


My Sweet Hatake

by Hasegawa



Series: Naruto stories [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: All the best for the characters, Amnesia, Anbu Yamato | Tenzou, Baby!yamato, Danzo - Freeform, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Genma Shiranui - Freeform, Good Orochimaru (Naruto), Good Uchiha Obito, Graphic Description, Happy Ending, Jiraiya - Freeform, M/M, Married Couple, Mommy!orochimaru, Namikaze Minato Lives, Nara character, OC, Pregnancy, Sarutobi Asuma - Freeform, Self indulgence, Self-Insert, Uchiha Shisui Lives, Uzumaki Kushina Lives, Violence, Yamanaka character, baby Uchiha Shisui, hetero-smut, smut in future chapter, suddenly family, suicide and suicide related thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 92,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24369157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hasegawa/pseuds/Hasegawa
Summary: Self insert OC - warning: violence, description of gore and OoC. I try to keep it as canon as possible to a certain point, but because this is a Self Insert, it may have some inaccuracies. Bad Grammar (no beta). This is basically my own self-indulgent fic. DON'T LIKE DON'T READ.OC died and woke up as Hatake Kaori, Hatake matriarch. When faced with a handsome husband and adorable son, who couldn’t resist changing the timeline to keep them happy?Even if it meant changing the whole Narutoverse.
Relationships: Hatake Sakumo/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Naruto stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759462
Comments: 438
Kudos: 1019
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Amazing OFC fanfiction, oc self insertSI





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: You have been warned. violence, description of gore and OoC. I try to keep it as canon as possible to a certain point, but because this is a Self Insert, it may have some inaccuracies. Bad Grammar (no beta). This is basically my own self-indulgent fic. 
> 
> So, I want to try on the self-insert naruto kink. And being a romantic fool myself, I want to have all the fluff in the world for baby Kakashi. So, yeah. This will be multi-chaptered. This will be a fix-it, sometimes without logic, not much details on jutsu etc. Just fluff and happiness. 
> 
> The day i post this was my birthday :) and this is a gift for myself. So please, don't rain on my parade. if you don't like it, any part of it, please push the close button and don't leave hurtful messages. don't like, don't read.

I still remembered that the last thing I did. It was a hot summer day, and I had a rare three days off because of the public holiday. I spent the whole time on a binge-read on Naruto Self-Insert stories, my eyes dry from almost 68 hours non stop binge read. That day was my thirtieth birthday as well--and because of a worldwide pandemic, I was able to stay at home and pretended there was no human aside of myself and fellow fanfic community. 

Then someone knocked on my door. 

I wondered who it was since I didn’t order anything. Well, the knocking getting more frantic and without thinking further I rushed to open the door to reveal my ex. 

He was dressed in a hood parka, looking wild. We broke up three months ago and I haven’t seen him since he left. 

“What do you want?” I asked curtly. I didn’t want to return back together. We weren’t a healthy couple and the break-up was good for us. For me, at least. 

He sneered at me before stabbing me on the stomach with a knife. 

At first, there was no pain. My body went into shock and I blinked. I was going to scream, but then my stomach felt like it was bursting -- he pulled the knife from my stomach -- and I realised I had been stabbed. I touched my stomach to find my hand was red from warm blood. Soon a dull throbbing began at the wound site, and it grew in intensity until the pain came. I couldn’t breathe and I panicked. 

My ex turned and ran through the empty road. 

Damn, damn, damn. What the hell. 

Pain. 

I choked on something and coughed out blood. Damn. 

I fell onto the floor, and it was pain, pain and pain. I needed help. Someone. 

Please. 

And I finally lost my consciousness. 

* * *

When I woke up, I felt so much better. There was no pain, just weakness for the whole body and it was a bit hard to breathe. I blinked to see a lot of people around me--all of them wearing surgical gears. Oh, I must be in some kind of operation room. 

Someone gave out a breath of relief, and then patted my hair gently. 

Relax, they said. Just rest and everything would be fine. 

I decided I like that and closed my eyes again. 

* * *

The next time I woke up, I felt very much better. 

I was still weak and it was hard to breathe, but at least there was no more pain. I tried to move my hand to check on my stomach, and surprisingly there was no gauze or anything. I blinked and tried to push the blanket away. Then I pulled the hospital gown and saw a flat, scarless stomach. Huh. 

Did they include plastic surgery for the scar or something? I was pretty sure getting stabbed usually left a scar. 

I tried to sit up and instead of pain on the stomach, I had a painful cough.

Someone pulled the curtain and a man--white spiky hair with a long ponytail, dark eyes and stress lines on his face in tandem with dark eyes under his eyes as if he didn’t know what sleep was--came in. He looked like he wanted to cry when he saw me awake. 

“Kaori… You are awake.”

I blinked. Damn. I was no Kaori. I was pretty sure my name didn’t have any Japanese element in it. I wasn’t even Japanese, although I did know how to use the language because of my job. 

“Wha…” I asked, but coughed again. 

“It’s alright, please don’t force yourself to speak. The surgery was a success, but you still need some recovery period. They told me you need at least two years or more to get better, but I am… I am glad you are fine now.” 

He touched my cheek and smiled so gentle I felt my cheek blushing. He looked so relieved and happy and from the look on his face, I knew I am precious to him. Then he captured my dry lips on a chaste kiss. A soft, welcome home kiss. 

Yup, I was right. 

“You have been in a coma for a month now.” He whispered while still touching my cheek. “But now everything is alright. You are awake and getting better. Thank Kami.” 

I couldn’t help but trying to make him feel better. I couldn’t suddenly say ‘ _ Sorry, you kiss the wrong person, I don’t know you but damn the kiss has potential, wanna make out more? _ ’, could I? So I decided to get better grasp of the information. 

“..Where…?”

“Oh, yes. Kakashi is still at the daycare, I’ll fetch him soon.” 

Oh. What. damn. She has a kid too? Nope. She couldn’t play dumb anymore. 

“I… I am sorry. I don’t remember. Who are you? Where am I?” I finally asked, voice strained and foreign in my own ears. 

He stopped smiling and looked at me in disbelief. Damn, I didn’t like to hurt a man as handsome as him--he was so my type--but I couldn’t fake knowing anything right now. 

“...Ah. Maybe I need to call the medic instead.” he pulled out, closing off and I regretted my words already. He pushed the caller button, and within a few minutes, a lady came in. She looked at us and smiled. 

“Hatake-san! Finally, you are awake.” she smiled and took the chart board. I watched her reading the chart and then added new notes, then checking on my pulse and readings. “Everything seems fine, Hatake-san. I believe we just need to observe, maybe a few days more, then you can go home! How are you feeling now?” 

“I feel weak.” I smiled. “My chest hurt a bit, but nothing too bad, thank you. … Also, I don’t remember anything.” 

The lady stopped smiling and pulling out her hand, which glowed green. 

GLOWED GREEN. HER HAND FREAKING GLOWED GREEN.

I almost freaked out, but then I realised something. 

Green meant … chakra? Hatake? Kakashi…? What. It felt very familiar. No, it couldn’t be, could it? 

“... Sakumo?” I asked, and the man perked up like a puppy and the happy smile was back. He took my hand and squeezed it gently. I blinked and huffed. Damn. I must be inside Naruto-verse of some kind. Sakumo and Kakashi… that meant I am the nameless Hatake matriarch who died before Kakashi turned five. I tried to recall what small information I had about her. Mostly were thread on Reddit, that she must be from Inuzuka clan and either she died from childbirth, or she was sick. 

After that, the lady noted that probably I had some kind of memory loss from the shock. I reassured them I kind of out of my mind and it would all come back to me soon. Just let me rest. I closed my eyes and surrendered to unconsciousness. 

* * *

When I woke up next, there was a little boy beside me on the bed. 

I turned to see his hopeful eyes on me, little chubby cheek and a smile so wide it made his whole face light up. 

“Kaa-chan! You are awake!”

Oh. This must be baby Kakashi. And I wanted to squee. His soft hair, his colouring and his chubby face made him look like a baby seal with big wide eyes. He was his father’s mini-me, with the same everything except the nose. That must be mine. 

I loved children, and I had no qualm to hug this one too. Especially since he was Kakashi, and he was supposed to be  _ mine _ . 

My hand weakly rose--I felt better already--and tugged his body nearer to me. 

“Kakashi… pup.” something in me made me call him a pup. 

Kakashi beamed like he just found all the gold in the world. He snuggled into me--a bit painful when his head hit my clavicle--just liked a puppy. If he has tail, I was sure it would be wagging very quickly right now. 

“Kaa-chan.” he sniffed. I blinked. Damn, a kid sniffing. My kid was not happy. “I am glad you are better now.” 

“Yes, Kaa-chan is sorry to make you worry so much,” I whispered and snuggled into his soft hair. “Kaa-chan is here now, and don’t you worry pup.” 

“I was scared you’ll never open your eyes again, Kaa-chan. Tou-chan told me you were very sick, but now you are not and we can go home soon.” 

I smiled and stroked his hair slowly. He was such a cute kid. I didn’t know what happen and why I was there, or why I became Kakashi’s mother. But I was damn sure that I wouldn’t let anything hurt my baby. I would kill everyone before killing myself if I let this kid felt hurt. 

“Yes, pup. Let’s go home.” 

I looked up to see Sakumo (my husband!) smiling at us from the door. Damn. This was just a dream come true-- a handsome husband, a cute kid and I was in a fantasy Naruto-verse. I felt like a dream, and maybe this was sort of a hallucination? I decided to just go along with it. Maybe this was a gift from God for my thirtieth birthday. 

Well, it would be impolite to refuse a blessing, wouldn’t it? 

* * *

I was released the next day. I thought I could walk, but since I have been in a long coma and was bedridden before even that, my legs atrophied a bit. Sakumo offered to princess-carry me but I decided to take crutches instead. I ended up taking back my choice because apparently our place was a twenty-minute walk from the hospital, and walking with crutches wasn’t that much fun. 

Kakashi looked so happy and hyper, bringing my bag with him. Sakumo let him and instead walked slowly beside me, hand ready to keep me from falling down. I let him did it because I knew he probably felt the need to be protective--he just almost lost his wife after all. 

Our place turned out to be a three-bedroom house in a compound of five houses. Sakumo brought me in and I watched my surrounding, trying to memorise as much as I could before he put me on the sofa in the living room. He told me to rest, then my baby came back from the room where he put my bags with a large blanket. He snuggled next to me and covered both of us with the blanket. 

I chuckled and kissed his hair. I was too happy with this snuggly child. I pulled him closer, and then when my husband (I knew I am so quick to accept this all, but well, I was always adaptable. I was always told I love too fast, too much) brought some tea on top of the table, I gestured for him to snuggle with us. I moved a bit and made him sat on Kakashi’s other side, and then we snuggled in together. 

“You need to rest too, husband of mine. You look dead on your feet.” I smiled softly at him. I turned and traced my finger along his jaw. His face was not covered with mask, showing how handsome he was. He looked tired and the lines made him look old, but he was my husband now and I promised to myself I will make him feel better. 

“Thank you for being there for our son. Thank you for taking care of me. Thank you, Sakumo.” 

Sakumo looked like he was embarrassed for a second before slipping his arm onto the back of my shoulder. We snuggled even tighter, making my baby squeaked and ended up sitting on top of Sakumo’s lap. I chuckled and kissed both of their cheeks. They retaliated back with a kiss on my cheek as well. 

It felt so good, I wished this dream never end. I knew nothing was perfect, even inside my own dream. Narutoverse was full of conflict and mistakes and tragedies. But for now, I would snuggle with my family for a quiet afternoon before I faced the world. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day, exploring and planning. 
> 
> The plot pick up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> self insert, OC, self-indulgence. You have been warned. 
> 
> There is some adult theme in this chapter, but not explicit. You can tell me if you want some hetero pron, I will try to oblige.

I woke up and slowly return to my senses. The room was quite dark but some light passed through between the curtains providing some visibility. I rubbed my eyes. The room smelled different than the usual fragrance I used, smelling a bit like wet fur. The mattress was harder than what I had. Where am I? 

What day was it? I needed to open my laptop and start checking up my inboxes. I remembered I had three days holiday which meant I have three days worth of things to check on. My work as the Project Manager in a multinational company required me to oversee three regions worth of Projects, and some of the team members were night owl who loved to work when normal people usually sleep. 

I turned to my side and found two fluffs of white hair beside me. They made me blink. Unless I did manage to get very drunk and had threesome one-night stand, I couldn't think of other reason why I have another two people beside me in the morning. And I knew for sure I didn’t get drunk because I didn’t feel hungover and I haven’t drunk since I was 23. I swore off alcohol when I woke up blind on the road with my phone and wallet stolen. 

I looked around and found it wasn’t my room. There was no low table with my laptop and messy documents beside it. There were no empty cups of tea around. There was no hanger or wardrobe. There was a dressing desk I was not familiar with. The whole room felt foreign to me. 

I slipped out of the blanket, just to feel a hand loosely grabbing my nightdress. The hand was small and belonged to the person in the middle. I softly let it go and sat up, wondering where was I. 

I silently walked to the door and opened it, then closed it behind me. 

_ Oh _ . 

This was my new home. I was just discharged from the hospital the day before. The living room was messy and the sofa we used to cuddle yesterday was still messy. There were clothes all over the room. The kitchen was the same, with unwashed plates and pots filling the kitchen. I guessed my hubby didn’t enjoy housework then. 

Lucky for him, I was a stress cleaner. 

Despite being a ninja, my new hubby hadn’t awake as yet even when I slipped out of the room, he must be feeling very tired. I decided to let him sleep in and slowly walked through the living room to the kitchen. My legs slowly getting back the strength to actually walk, and I needed it to clean now. I walked to the fridge and felt weird because the technology was a bit backward, unlike my smart fridge at home which could help me set security alarm and got me my groceries delivered to home. 

But they still had electricity and beggars can’t be choosers so I sucked it up and checked. 

The fridge was pretty empty outside three eggs and some leftover butter. 

I guessed omelette it was then. 

Trying to find a clean bowl for whisking was out of the questions, so instead, I started to wash the plates and pots. Some of them were newly used, whole others had extensive mould. As a bit of germophobe, I despised mould and bacterias. So I decided to salvage whichever I could and dumped the rest. 

While whisking the eggs, I remembered that Kakashi didn’t like sweet stuff, so I put salt instead of the usual Japanese sweet tamagoyaki. 

Suddenly the door was opened and I saw my new husband looking worried. But when he saw me, he smiled. 

"You are early." 

I smiled back. "I had a very good rest last night. Get yourself ready. Breakfast is ready soon." 

He looked shy for a bit and then walked towards me. He slipped himself behind me and watched as I poured the first batch of omelette on the pan. It quickly sizzled. I felt a kiss on the back of my head and his face was on my left shoulder.

"I miss you." He whispered on my ear and made me shiver. Damn. I hadn’t get laid in forever due to my job and now this sexy man was seducing me from behind. I didn’t know the average but usually, a tall and muscular man like him has good-sized meat stick I could enjoy myself with. 

"I am sorry this is inappropriate, but…" he continued, while slowly grabbing my wide hips with his huge hands. "... you're just back from the hospital too. But you are so damn sexy like this." 

"Because I made you breakfast? You  _ ass _ ." I huffed, feeling a bit insulted but well, not too angry. I smiled at him to show I wasn’t angry anyway. 

Sakumo stiffened, but then he chuckled when he saw my smile. "Sorry, I don’t mean it like that." 

"...Kaa chan? Tou chan?" 

I pushed Sakumo back until there was a respectable distance between us. 

"Morning, pup. How was your sleep?" 

Kakashi stared at us from across the room and suddenly appearing beside me and hugged me tightly. Damn the kid was really a ninja. I patted my baby’s fluffy bed head. 

"Hnn? Go and clean up, Kakashi. Breakfast is almost ready." 

My baby shook his head.

I turned to Sakumo and he nodded. He pulled the kid with him and went to the bathroom. I smiled watching them and finally able to focus on making eggs. 

Breakfast was simple, but both of them looked very happy with it. I gave half my egg to Kakashi because I didn’t feel like eating much. I found out that usually, Sakumo and Kakashi have morning exercises in the dojo. I decided to follow them there and watched them from the side. The wooden-floored dojo itself was just at the back of our house, empty but well used. 

My baby looked very excited and did his best to do all the katas my husband showed him. His small figure looked so fragile, but I knew even in his young age, he could beat adult civilians easily. Kakashi also (adorably) turned his attention to me every ten minutes, as if screaming for me to watch him. Yes, of course, I am watching you, pup. Always. 

Sakumo smiled, but he called Kakashi on it. Kakashi pouted and stopped turning to me, focusing fully on his morning kata. I watched them while making a list in my head. I needed to clean up for sure, and then groceries. I didn’t even know about the money here. Ryo, was it? Was it the same valuation as Yen? I needed to know how much saving our family has and our monthly expenses… 

Damn, my mind was just trained to see everything in term of project management now. 

Wait. I needed to think about what to do next in the bigger term, like whether I should change the timeline (yes, I wouldn’t let Sakumo commit suicide), let the Kyuubi invasion or not, etc., not thinking about whether I should clean the toilet with Harpic or Earth Choice cleaners. 

I saw Sakumo walked towards me while leaving our kid running around the dojo. He smiled and took the seat beside me. 

“What are you thinking, Kaori? You looked tense.” 

“Ah. Hubby, you need to help me.”

“Hmmm?”

“My memory is not fully back as yet. I recognise you and our son, but I have no working knowledge or what my childhood was like.” I murmured. “I didn’t even remember where I put my wallet...” 

He looked sad and put an arm around me. “I am sorry. I know where you usually write our household expense book. I still have a day off from missions duty. We can go through it together, slowly.” 

I nodded and put my head on his shoulder. Damn, my husband was perfect. I smiled and hid my face on his shoulder. 

“Why are you so sexy, hubby.” 

His chuckle filled my head. “Only you, Kaori.” 

* * *

Sakumo showed me the household expense book (thank Kami for a very meticulous pre-amnesia Kaori. She kept a detailed journal). I decided to read it later when I have time to focus. After we cleaned ourself up, Kakashi asked whether we could eat out. It turned out Kakashi’s puppy-eyed look was devastating point-blank, and so within the hour, we were seated in an Akamichi barbeque restaurant. 

Kakashi looked very excited, choosing the selection while looking at me, expecting me to listen to every one of his explanation. I indulged him on it, just happy to listen to his rambling. The adult Kakashi in the mangas and anime was a silent man, prone to being long silences and only spoke when required. It was a massive difference from this little animated genius. 

We decided on the family platter. The waitress who took our order smiled happily at us and commenting on how cute Kakashi was. Kakashi pouted because he was not cute, he was fearsome. I smiled and kissed his cheek, stating he was still my little genius, no matter what. Kakashi beamed happily and snuggled onto my lap. He was almost five yet still so small. Sakumo just watched us with his big, warm eyes which I returned. 

“Sakumo-san?” Suddenly someone called to us. I blinked to find a big, round man standing beside our table. He must be an Akimichi. 

“Choza-san.”

“Thank you for coming to our restaurant.” The Akimichi said. He looked friendly enough and my husband didn’t tense, so I figured he must be a friend. “I am glad Kaori-san has recovered. Your meal on the house!” 

I blushed. “Oh, no, thank you but that’s too gracious for you…”

“Don’t mind it, Kaoru-san. It’s always good to celebrate.” he smiled and patted my husband. Since Sakumo was smiling, I decided to stop declining the offer. “Right, please enjoy the food! Congratulations again.” 

I noticed how the Akimichi Head actually wanted to congratulate us on my recovery, which meant two things, my sickness was something big that everyone knew, or Sakumo has been working himself so bad that his peers decided my recovery was a good thing for his well being. Either way, I needed to know Kaori better, her past and her personalities. 

A hard task indeed. 

I focused on what I could do at the moment though. Enjoying lunch with my family. Kakashi loved the meat but refused to eat the vegetables. I sighed and fed him his veggies one by one. He wasn't happy about it, but obediently opened his mouth every time I picked a veggie and put it in front of his mouth. I felt like a mother bird feeding its chick. 

After a good lunch, we ended up going for errands. I noted how much the prices were, making notes about general prices and things provided. I found no varnish or fabric softener (I realised Sakumo brought me to a general store mostly for shinobi -- not much perfume or strong smell) but they had other things I never saw before, like multipurpose blood cleaner. I guessed Shinobi needed to clean the bloodstain from their everyday clothes and the floor. 

The afternoon was spent on quick cleaning the house--I laughed so hard watching two of them pouting while picking up their clothes from the surfaces. I also found cleaning was easier without their help as they tried to shortcut things but it made things exploded instead. I could deep clean later anyway when I recovered better. 

That night we spent it sitting together snuggling covered with the blanket. Kakashi asked me to read some storybooks, which surprised me because he didn’t seem like a kid who liked fairytales--at least in the mangas and anime anyway. Then Sakumo told me when Kakashi was asleep between us that I was the author of the story. 

Oh. 

Kaori Hatake was a children-book writer with some pseudo names. Apparently, even though Sakumo was one of the top-jounin in the Village with a decent amount of income, pre-amnesia Kaori was a remarkable woman by her own merit. She was an orphan, grew up to be a Genin (in fact, the same class with Sakumo) but decided to stop working as a shinobi and became a civilian writer instead due to economic constraint (I noted that being an orphan genin might not sustain one’s life. D-ranks missions paid little to nothing, and an orphan couldn’t afford the expensive shinobi tools). Sakumo told me he was proud of me for it. My works were mostly children book, with one or two fantasy novels. They were not massively popular, but I was told every bookstore in Konoha carried my works. 

Oh. That was very interesting. I have all this new avenue to look into. So I wasn’t just a housewife. 

“... I need to be back to work tomorrow,” he whispered to me regretfully, while carrying our son to his bedroom. I noticed that Kakashi actually has his own bedroom, but he was sleeping on our bed last night. He must have slipped in. 

We tucked him in and I kissed him goodnight, before retiring to our own room. When Sakumo locked the door behind us, I immediately realised something. 

Damn. 

I would be getting laid. Halleluyah. 

He took off his top shirt, showing his tough, lean torso wrapped in a mesh shirt. His skin was tanned and full of scars. So  _ arousing _ . I blinked again and knew I was getting very, very wet. 

He saw my eyes and blushed, but then he made a point to watch me back. 

I took my nightgown off too, letting his eyes roamed around my own body. I only wore my bra and panties, not the sexiest I wished I have on, but it was a decent, simple nude pair. 

“Are you sure?” He asked with a strained, rough voice. I nodded in answer and walked closer, letting my hand touching every part of his pecs. His skin was hot and rough. I wanted to touch it, always. 

“Would you let me…?” I whispered back, batting my eyelashes. I hadn’t flirt properly since probably five years ago and felt a bit out of practice. Yet Sakumo nodded and grabbed my hand on his chest. 

“Of course.” Sakumo murmured. “I am on your service, baby.” 

Oh, this was totally delicious and my mind went blank with arousal. I knew I would be enjoying this very, very much. 

* * *

Our sweet time was cut short. 

The next day, I didn’t like it when Sakumo was called when we were having breakfast (proper white rice with miso and tuna fillet). The bird just knocked on the window and Sakumo sighed. “I’ll be back soon with details.” he smiled sadly and kissed me chastely. Sakumo then ruffled Kakashi’s hair-nest and ignored his protest. He then shunshin-ed away. 

I accompanied my baby doing his morning works while reading Kaori’s journal. It listed details on our money management. It seemed Sakumo trusted me fully with our money, which meant I couldn’t slack and wasted things. I needed to recheck my calculation before I could spend the budget. It seemed we were a middle-upper class family, with a decent amount of saving. We had some cash saved in the house (now that’s interesting. I had read lots of Harry Potter fanfiction and real-life examples why savings was important, but Naruto verse never mentioned anything about banks), yet the bulk of our money seemed to be invested in the land. In fact, the Hatake Land. 

Sakumo seemed to buy the land around us to enlarge the compound. Which I found not a good investment since it was kind of empty. Maybe I could build an apartment inside the compound too, and then rent it all to the public since Hatake Clan consisted only of us (I blushed when I realised I have counted myself as a Hatake). 

Well, a plan for later then. 

Next, I have a decent budget for monthly expenses, and judging from the previous logs, Kaori usually spent around half of the budget for food. She didn’t seem like the splurging type, so I guessed Kaori was pretty similar to me. In fact, after I re-checked, her choices of spending would be very similar to mine. Aside from the fashion things for Kakashi, though. I noted she liked to spoil him with new clothes. 

A good thing then, because it would support the fact that ‘Kaori’ has not changed even with the amnesia. 

And then I found a key, hidden by the back of the journal. I wondered what it was for.

“Kaori, Kakashi.” Sakumo appeared by the door, surprising me. Kakashi looked at me and then rushed to his father, with me following behind him. 

“I will be going for a mission. It’s A-rank, possibly around 3 weeks or more.” Sakumo sighed. “Take care of your mother for me, would you, Pup?” 

Kakashi nodded solemnly as if he was given a mission. I bit my lips with worry. 

“Make sure you come back safely, Hubby.” I pleaded softly and hugged him. “I’ll miss you.” 

“Me too,” Sakumo whispered back, kissed me before nodded and went to the house to pack. He declined my offer to help me pack, telling us to enjoy the day instead. So I turned to Kakashi, faking a smile. 

“It’s you and me, Pup. What do you want to do today?” 

Kakashi tilted his head before asking, “the park?” 

I nodded. “We’ll bring some food and have a picnic then?”

Kakashi nodded in excitement. What a darling puppy. I wanted to squee. 

“Alright, I’ll cook something and you can lead us to the park!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this will have a plot, and (although it might be) harlequin type, I will still have some Naruto-plot. 
> 
> I won't kill baby Shinsui and baby Itachi. I swear. 
> 
> er... should I write the hetero pron?


	3. Obito

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is for Obito.

I guessed I needed to teach Kakashi about socialising with his peers. 

Kakashi was a genius, and he was intellectually far ahead of his age group. He was cute too, and it helped him interact with the people around him outside Sakumo and me -- I guessed the adults around found his baby-seal look and genius brain as “cute little brat”. I handled it by treating him like a bigger child, instead of the four years old he was. But when I saw how he acted around his peers (even bigger kids) in the park, I decided it was time to teach him how to communicate properly. Afterall, no matter how smart he was, a shinobi would work in a team. Konoha prided herself on her teams. And no human could work alone. 

I wouldn’t let my baby become the lonely killing machine. 

‘Playing ninja’ seemed to be the game they chose, and Kakashi, with all his intellect and his father’s teachings, showed to be far ahead of his peers. The other kids were just jumping and ran as fast as they could (which meant slow and very clumsy). I could see how my kid saw it as a ridiculous take on the ninja way and wasn’t afraid to show how it was supposed to be (in his opinion). But nobody liked show-offs, especially kids smaller than them. Kakashi didn’t understand that and felt they were mocking him by rejecting his view. 

When Kakashi finally almost punched a boy, I shouted at him to stop. I walked towards them. The rest of the kids, seeing that an adult was coming, immediately ran away to avoid the crossfire. I felt like I was back in the company meeting, being the negotiator between two different departments with conflicting KPIs. 

My son looked angry but he immediately calmed down. I saw the boy he almost punched--taller, probably older than my baby--growled. 

“Come here, you two.” 

I squatted on the ground, keeping my face stern. I needed to make them understand, and I wouldn’t reach them if I used an adult level of view which seemed to tower over them. I needed to catch them at their eye level, so they knew I wasn’t mad at them. 

“What’s your name, honey?” 

Kakashi looked angry at my pet name, but the boy looked surprised and blushed. 

“..Uchiha Obito, ma’am.”

It surprised me for a second, but I gathered myself. This was a moment to teach. 

“Alright. Let’s discuss, shall we?” I didn’t give them time to answer, because it wasn’t a question. “Kakashi, I understand you know better ways to do things. Why do you think so?” 

“...Because tou-chan teach me?” 

“Correct. Your father taught you the right way. But did he yell and punch you to teach you that?” 

Kakashi looked away, I knew he felt a bit embarrassed. I guessed my message was received. Then I turned to Obito. “Obito-kun. Do you think what Kakashi was telling you is wrong?”

Obito looked at my son and then shook his head. “No..? Yes? I don’t know, ma’am.” 

“Good. You realise that you don’t know whether Kakashi was telling you the truth or not. Then, if you don’t know whether it was right or wrong, why do you reject it immediately?”

“...He was being mean about it.” 

“You are a ninja, correct?” 

“Yes!” he nodded quickly. “I will be the next Hokage!” 

“Then you need to gather every information from every source and think. Listen carefully. The way others tell you information might vary from person to person. The way I speak and the way Kakashi speaks is different. As a ninja, you need to be able to listen to both of us and decide whether we are right or wrong. Rejecting information before even knowing whether it’s right or wrong will make you choose the wrong decision, regardless of how that information was delivered.”

_ Because you saw Kakashi’s hand inside Rin-chan’s chest and you decided my son was a murderer by his own choice. And then you chose to follow Madara and Zetsu to your demise.  _

“Now, do you understand what I am trying to tell you?” 

Both of them nodded “Yes, kaa-chan.” “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. What do you think you shall do next? Hnn? Kakashi? Obito-kun?”

My son turned to Obito. “...Sorry I almost punched you.” 

Obito shrugged. “Sorry I didn’t listen to you properly.” 

Ah, both were such good boys I couldn't help but hug them. Kakashi squirmed half-heartedly, while Obito went stiff in my arms. I was reminded Obito was an orphan who lived with a strict Uchiha grandmother. Maybe he didn’t get hugs very much. 

“Now, I have some treats for you two. Thank you so much for being good kids. Come with me?” Nothing would cement a lesson like bribery. I released them and tried to rise, but since my calves were still weak, I fell onto the ground instead. Kakashi and Obito looked at me in shock, and I laughed at their faces.

“Kaa-chan, you are bleeding!” 

I blinked. Huh. My arms scraped the ground and were bleeding. It was just minor bleeding and looked worse than it felt. So I shrugged it off. “It’s alright, pup. It’s not painful or anything. Come, help me rise.” 

They both pulled my hands. I thanked them both before walking back to the picnic basket and took my Tupperware (It was nice how they also have Tupperware here). I gestured for them to come closer. I asked for their hands and washed them with a cloth I brought with me, then opened the Tupperware and gave them each a toothpick to take the rabbit-shaped apple pieces and peeled tangerines. 

Kakashi took one and sat beside me, snuggling close and hiding his face under my armpit. I almost squeed, my son was just like a puppy. Obito, meanwhile, looked lost. So I gestured to him to sit on my other side, and I squeezed them together with my arms around them. Too cute! 

I managed to ask Obito some questions about his home life and I was right. He lived with his strict grandmother because his parents passed away before he was one. I remembered there was a thread somewhere who speculated that Obito was Uchiha Kagami’s son with a Senju mother, and that was why he was bullied inside the Uchiha Clan. And apparently his grandmother wasn’t feeling well, that was why Obito was in the park alone. 

Well, honestly I felt pity and also anger. I hated when kids weren’t treated right, be it spoiling them or abusing them. 

“If you’d like, you can have dinner with us,” I asked Obito. Kakashi immediately pouted and grabbed my arms. I hushed my baby. “It’s alright, Kakashi. You can have a new friend!” 

Obito looked so lost. I wanted to hug him more. I ended up doing that anyway and brought him home to cook with us. Kakashi pouted the whole way home, making me realised I did the right thing because my baby needed to learn how to share. I knew I had been sick and maybe that's why he was so attached to me, but I couldn’t keep spoiling him. 

* * *

The one thing I could think of to make them work together was making dumplings (yes, it’s kind of like the Crazy Rich Asians without the annoying in-laws). 

We spent the afternoon sitting in the kitchen, a big bowl of meat fillings, and a stack of pre-made dumpling sheets. I taught them how to fold the Chinese-style dumplings, and slowly they got used to it and worked. It didn’t mean peace, though. They fought with words. Kakashi put too many fillings and that's why it wouldn’t fold properly, while Obito tried to fold too quickly and it didn’t stick. I let them do it while continuing to clean up the rest of the house and preparing the steamers. 

When I turned to call them, I smiled. Kakashi was telling Obito how to keep the dumpling from opening up. Then Obito taught Kakashi to use a measurement comparison of small finger size fillings. It was a very cute image, and although it was not so peaceful, we managed to end up with 100 dumplings between us. The dumplings were not perfect, but they were their masterpieces. I am glad they learned from each other. 

I put them in the steamer and told them to clean up. Kakashi reluctantly took Obito’s hand (like Sakumo did to him, so  _ adorable _ ) and dragged him towards the bathroom. In the meantime, I managed to clear up the table and set the bowls and chopsticks for them. 

Dinner was lively, and slowly Kakashi looked like he didn’t mind Obito was there. Obito too, slowly getting louder and louder, indicating he was comfortable sitting with us. After dinner, I told him that we would send him back home. Obito was … five? six? And shouldn’t be walking home alone at night. 

After we sent them to the gates of Uchiha Compound (I gave him some leftover dumplings for his breakfast, wished his grandmother well, and kissed his forehead before letting him go), I pulled Kakashi onto my hip. My fun-sized son was still small enough for me to hold like this. He looked embarrassed, but he let me do it. 

“I am sorry about Obito, pup,” I whispered. “I know you want only us together, but the kid seems to need more hugs.” 

Kakashi just buried his face onto my neck. 

I walked slowly while rubbing his back. Oh how I took my walking ability for granted. Kaori’s legs were weak and walking while holding Kakashi like this was very tiring. Yet I kept my gait slow and steady because I am holding my most precious thing. 

“I am proud of you for sharing. You were teaching him and letting him teach you. You were very good, Kakashi. I am proud of you.” 

Kakashi’s breath hitched but he didn’t move much in my arms. 

“I am glad I am well enough to hold you like this,” I whispered further, and somehow my eyes were teary. “I missed so much of your childhood, but you have grown to be a good boy. I know you will be a great man in the future. But promise me, you’ll be a good man too.”

Kakashi pulled up from my neck. I ignored his wet eyes. 

“What’s the difference, Kaa-chan?” 

“A great man can change history with his power. A good man can save a life with his kindness.” 

Kakashi blinked and his confused expression made me want to kiss him, so I did. 

“You are so cute, pup. I want to eat you.” I giggled. He scowled but pulled closer to me. 

What a tsundere. 

We walked in playful banter until we reached our home. My baby looked like he was feeling better and not bitter about sharing me with Obito. I wished he could keep this attitude while dealing with his future teammate--and wouldn't let Obito turning into Tobi. 

It was a good day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the pace will pick up. Probable time jump for the next chapter. 
> 
> Thank you so much for your kind message and kudos and bookmarks! I want to make this story to be a feel-good story.


	4. Kaori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The background of Kaori's life before OC came. 
> 
> Warning: mention of Rape/ violence, sickness. You have been warned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The background of Kaori's life before OC came. 
> 
> Warning: mention of Rape/ violence, sickness. You have been warned.

I finally found what the key was supposed to open. 

While storing back the monthly household journals, I noticed that its placement was a bit off. It was within my dressing drawer, but it looked like it had less space than it should. Maybe it has a ninja space or something. I tried to knock and it made a different sound. So I tried to open it with force. The wood actually fell off and revealed a simple box. The lock fitted perfectly to reveal three thick books. 

I assumed it could be diaries or probably Kaori's story notes. Either way I needed to read them. 

I brought it with me while accompanying Kakashi doing his morning routine. I thought I could read it while my baby went through his kata, but I was wrong. While I was content to just smile and encouraged him to do his best, with no Sakumo to keep him on track, my baby spent every ten minutes turning to me, begging for attention. 

I huffed and told him to focus every ten minutes. 

Right. I needed to let him focus on his training. So I opened the journals anyway. The writings are small and in Japanese, thank Kami I could actually read it. And there was not much kanji anyway, which was good. My Japanese was professionally proficient, not literature level proficient. The books were her diaries. Apparently Kaori was a very detail-oriented woman. I really liked her. We had the same spirit. 

After deciding which one was the first book, I started to read. 

The diary started when Kaori was five. She was born an orphan. She was raised in the village orphanage. Kaori stated that she had the feeling she might be of a clan, but she didn't write which clan. The diary told me how she enjoyed writing and wool gathering, but life as an orphan with shinobi potential in a shinobi village meant she was too good to waste as a civilian. She was enrolled in the academy when she was seven. 

She made friends, but not best friends. I recognised some of her classmates, like Senju Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya. Some I only knew because of their clan names such as Yamanaka, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Akimichi, and Nara. Life was difficult for her as she was a clanless orphan, even though she showed some characteristics of a specific clan (but she didn’t write it down, so I wondered). She was average at best, except in her genjutsu because she has a rich imagination. However, her chakra wasn't that strong. It seemed that the Legendary Sannin had skewed the average in the class’ chakra level. She didn't have a best friend per se, but there were two pages worth of entries about how kid Sakumo helped her train for her graduation and she respected ( read:adored) him for it. 

Oh I just realised Inuzuka wasn't mentioned a bit in any of her entries so far. 

Maybe the Narutoverse theory was right. Kaori might be an Inuzuka. She might realised it but decided to ignore it. Because of course it was hard to accept abandonment, especially from the clan who prided themselves for being utterly loyal to their pack. 

The second diary continued to her genin days, about fun with her team (one Aburame and one Uchiha). After several entries of boring D-ranks, they finally got their first c-rank. It turned out to be a nightmare. Her Aburame friend was killed and her Uchiha friend got his Sharingan. Their sensei focused on saving the clan children and left Kaori behind.

Kaori herself was tortured badly, leaving her with a broken body and soul. I almost threw up. She was raped, her hands smashed to pieces, her body poisoned with truth serum in high doses until her kidney failed while her liver broke down. She was barely alive when they found her (her Suna kidnapper left her to die by the river frequently visited by local Konoha shepherds) and sent her to the hospital. The diary gave me blow by blow details of what happened. Apparently Kaori wrote if after she was discharged from the hospital, with the advice of a Yamanaka mind-doctor. 

Oh. That's why Sakumo asked her again and again whether he could touch Kaori the other night. Because Kaori had a trauma. 

The diary continued, telling me that while her hand healed and she still maintained one kidney and 70% of her liver, her chakra coil was gone. She couldn't return to be a shinobi (not that she wanted to. Being abandoned by your clan and your own team made her bitter). It was a bad point in her life. She lost her intended career and her income with it. She was asked to leave the genin barrack without any pension or support. She was an orphan and nobody would help. She needed repeat therapy from the hospital, yet since she was not a shinobi anymore, the village wouldn't pay it for her.

Basically she was thrown by the village because she was broken. _Useless_.

I now understood why she was so detailed with money. Because it took someone who has lost everything to ensure she lost nothing ever again. 

A painful entry of just one line, asking herself whether she should start to be a prostitute broke me and I started to sob. It was so painful to read, yet so brave of her to write. Kaori was truly a strong woman to endure all that and still didn't hate her village.

It was painful to read. It must have been unimaginably bad to write and experience it. 

"Kaa-chan, why are you crying?" 

I turned to see my baby looking worried, awkwardly trying to pat my back. "Are you sick? Please don't cry."

Oh I had been so immersed in Kaori's diary that I forgot my son's exercise. I closed the diary and gathered him into my arms. I am sorry, Kakashi. Please let me have a moment of weakness. Your mother was a strong, wonderful woman and I promised myself not to bring shame to her legacy.

"No, pup. Kaa-chan is fine, just feels sad." 

"Why are you sad? Is it because Tou-chan is away?" 

I smiled. "No, I am fine now. Kakashi is Kaa-chan's good luck charm. You make my sadness go away. Thank you, baby." 

I would need to continue reading it after when Kakashi wasn't looking. It wouldn't be good to make him worry. I should be stronger like Kaori was. 

Lunch was simple and I was glad my baby ate all the food I put on his plate. He stole glances at me because he still believed I was in pain. To appease him, I decided to let him snuggle with me and ask for another storytelling after lunch. Instead of reading from Kaori’s books, I decided to tell him the story of a boy who learned to do magic instead. An orphan with glasses and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The tale of friendship and adventure in a world of magic. 

No matter what world, the wonder of magic would still be mesmerizing to everyone.

Maybe I should write and publish my Harry Potter Fanfiction too. 

* * *

I realised that maybe, Konoha wasn't as perfect as it was portrayed by Naruto's mind. 

I saw the imbalance of workload, the neglect of children, and society. Diversions of clans and separation between shinobi and non-shinobi. Military-style warmonger village with clear favoritism. Although it seemed Konoha was one of the best villages to live in within this timeline. 

It worried me. 

I didn’t want to let my child drown in this madhouse. I didn’t want my genius baby to be a killing tool for the village elite to break. I would not let my husband take his own life because he made the right _human_ decision. I would keep them from breaking down, I would shield them with my knowledge, at least. 

Kakashi fell asleep and I covered him with the blanket while I continued to read. 

Oh, life seemed to get better after that rock-bottom. She decided to join a House in the red-district called Ophelia. It was one of the more honorable scarlet houses owned by a daughter of an exiled Samurai. She was told she could try for a night first and see whether it was fine for her. 

Her first client was Sakumo. 

I blinked. _Damn_. My husband visited scarlet houses? 

And instead of servicing him, they talked. Kaori wrote that Sakumo was dragged by his friend there (I bet it was Jiraiya) but he wasn’t in the mood for sex. It seemed they spent the night talking about everything and nothing. He shared the story about people’s crushing expectations of him, especially to marry and have children to repopulate the Hatake Clan. His parents had passed away when he was ten, and he lived in an empty house haunted by memories. His friend told him to relax and pushed him into the Ophelia House. 

Kaori then told him about her missions and broken body, sharing the reason she was there. It was just fair because he had laid himself bare for her to see, so she reciprocated. 

The next day, Sakumo came and offered her to work as his housekeeper. Kaori accepted the offer.

So, they lived together harlequin-style. 

Kaori wrote about what she learned about Sakumo, about his likes and dislikes, his fears, and his dreams. She was grateful for Sakumo’s help, then realised maybe he wasn’t just helping Kaori. He really needed a housekeeper badly. The first time she cooked for him, he wept, stating it has been his first home-made meal in years. 

I smiled while reading it. I would definitely take notes on it. Thank you for the information, Kaori. 

After a few entries, it seemed like they fell into a comfortable friendship. Kaori wrote about her feelings for Sakumo, but she was afraid he wouldn’t return it--she was not a good woman, after all. Not with her broken body and mind. She was drowning in her angst, and if I could, I wanted to hug her. 

Apparently it took a simple mission that turned bad to change all that. Sakumo came back with wounds on both body and mind. He lost an ANBU trainee to an enemy's ambush right the day before they could reach Konoha’s gate. The young teenager died in his arms. Sakumo felt personally guilty for him, and Kaori couldn’t let the man drown under his own angst. So she offered to comfort him. 

The start of their relationship wasn’t perfect, and it was filled with miscommunications. It continued until Kaori decided to leave (as she has already saved a small amount for three months living expenses if she was really frugal) and Sakumo decided to stop her and asked to stay forever. The entry for that particular night was too cute and I found myself smiling. 

The rest was history. They got married in a small ceremony, Jiraiya as the best man and Akamichi Chouchou (she was her friend, they met when they were fitting the bridal kimono together) as the bridesmaid. They had Kakashi half a year later. 

However it wasn’t a fairytale. After she had Kakashi, her health deteriorated. She spent eight out of twelve months in a year on the hospital bed. Apparently her other kidney decided to fail and her liver slowly rotted away. Because her chakra coil was messed up, the Medical Palm didn’t work on her. Tsunade was out of the village already, running away from her dead brother and fiancee’s ghosts, leaving patients like Kaori with no much hope. 

The diary entry became sparse after that, mostly Kaori’s thoughts on the guilt of not being there for Kakashi’s childhood. She actually wrote about committing suicide to avoid medical bills (because she was a spouse of a Jounin, they received 50% medical bill subsidy from the village. But the cost was still a big burden to bear, not to mention how Kakashi’s childcare cost). The last entry page mentioned that she took a secret operation, accepted without Sakumo’s knowledge, with less than 20% of success, offered by Orochimaru. 

I blinked. 

Oh. 

I remembered. 

The person who patted my hair in the operating room was Orochimaru. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Orochimaru for the win! :D 
> 
> IMO, he has the medical knowledge to conduct his experiment, but not to operate on someone. That's why the offer was done secretly. And because of that, OC became Kaori instead. :D


	5. Can you keep a secret?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OC needs to relearn how to keep a secret. or how to raise a little genius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your kind comments! :D

The next two weeks fell into a comfortable routine. 

I woke up and prepared breakfast, before waking up Kakashi. Sometimes he woke up even before I did and slipped into my bed, which usually ended up I woke him up by a morning forehead kiss and tickling session. My baby was surprisingly ticklish. He tried to hide his laugh in grumps and snort, yet after the second time, he gave up and shrieked with laughter. I loved when he did that, my baby’s laugh told me everything was alright with our world. 

Then I accompanied Kakashi’s morning training while making the household budget. I made Kakashi understand that morning time was our personal serious time--he would need to focus on his training if he wanted to be as strong as his dad, and I needed the time to be seriously doing adult stuff as well. I spent the mornings planning a detailed list (including arguments for) of my proposed ideas on our investment so that when Sakumo approved (I was sure he would approve because I took pride in my profession as Project Manager), I could implement it immediately. 

Kakashi would clean himself up while I made some lunch. He usually wanted to help, and slowly I told him how to cook simple things. He loved my cooking, to my greatest joy. I knew I wasn’t the best cook in the world, but I was sure every mother would be happy if her children liked her cooking. I loved my late mother’s cooking too and missed her very much. 

In the afternoon I would either clean or ask Kakashi what he wanted to do. I found that cleaning was a good meditation method. I slowly cleaned the house thoroughly. I didn’t begrudge Sakumo for the state of our house (mould everywhere, dear Kami forgive me for my use of bleach in such a dangerous quantity, I didn’t mean to endanger the environment). When I cleaned, usually I asked my baby to sit quietly and read his books, yet like any other four years old (no matter how genius) he couldn’t stay calm and kept mimicking whatever I was doing. He was just like a duckling, following me around, helping as much as he could. 

So I let him scrub the bathtub while I scrubbed the toilet bowl for dear life. I cleaned up all the two bathrooms until I could see my own image on the toilet bowl. I felt very accomplished. And also lucky, because Sakumo’s house was already equipped with toilet bowls and not a toilet squatting hole like I suspected the majority of the Konoha still had. 

Since there was no television in this village (It was kind of funny--maybe it was era-appropriate? Or maybe those kinds of things were considered a luxury and rationed?)I didn’t have any other thing to distract Kakashi while I was working around the house. Luckily my kid was the best kid ever and he didn’t complain, not even a bit. The bribe of salty little crackers also worked quite well too. 

When I tried to write more about what I remembered (before it was too long and I forgot details about Naruto plots) Kakashi always looked at my writings in interest. I wrote it in English alphabets, which made it sort of unreadable. He asked me to teach him to read the alphabet, so I humored him. He didn't manage to learn it too much, for a language needs grammar and vocabulary. 

While I wrote, I narrated out for Kakashi. I told Kakashi about Madara and Hashirama’s friendship, their quest to have peace thwarted by an evil man named Zetsu. About Tobirama and his love for his brothers. About Konoha and how it started. How Hashirama died against Madara who defected. 

“Does it mean Uchihas are bad?” 

“No, they are not. If a cat hurt you, does that mean all cats are hurtful? Everybody has reasons why they do something. There are also contexts of why they did it the way they did. For example, if Senju Tobirama didn't kill Uchiha Izuna, he would be the one skewered by Uchiha Izuna.”

“Why do they kill each other? 

“They were in feudal times, pup. They were at war. But nobody remembered why they fought in the first place. See, Kakashi, when something was just done because it was done for years, you need to start questioning it. Is it still good? Is it still relevant? Why did we do that? Keep asking why and find the real reason, okay?” 

“Okay Kaa-chan”, he humored me. I didn't know whether he really understood what I said, or simply placated me. But I loved him either way. 

“My genius baby”, I kissed his forehead. “I know you will. There are always learnings in stories, pup. That's why I want to write this and let the world know.”

“I like your stories too!” He smiled at me. I cooed at him and continued. About Mito's marriage and her role as the first jinchuriki. 

“What is jinchuriki, kaa chan?” 

“They are people with a bijuu sealed within them, pup.” 

“What's a bijuu?” 

“Bijuu… is a being of pure chakra. Like you have chakra and Tou-chan have chakra, they are a being made from those chakra and a million times stronger. The more their tails, the stronger they are.” 

“Are they big? Stronger than Tou-chan? Are they monsters...?” Kakashi asked, with a hint of fear. 

“No, baby they are not. They have names and personalities. They were created by the Sage, just like you are made from Kaa-chan and Tou-chan. They were Sage’s kids. There are nine of them and they are siblings.” I showed Kakashi my drawings of 9 bijuu, mostly looking like a chibi blob of tails. Oh, how I missed Pinterest. “There are a fox, a monkey, a turtle, a beetle, a slug, a cow, a horse, a cat, and a tanuki. Now there are nine people who have the bijuu sealed inside their body. One of them is in this village. They are called Jinchuriki.”

“Really? Can I meet them?” 

“Hush, it is supposed to be a secret. But tell you what, Kaa-chan will tell you another secret. You can try and scent the people in this village. The one smelled like a fox would be them.”

“But you know who they are, Kaa-chan?” 

“Yes. Kaa-chan knows everything.” I winked at him. “Especially about Kakashi's love for eggplants.” 

“ _ Nooo _ , I hate eggplants. They are purple and weird.” My baby pouted and tried to run away. But I caught him and brought him deeper into my lap. I chuckled. 

“You cannot just see the outside, Kakashi. How about we have miso eggplant tonight, would you try and eat it for Kaa-chan?” 

Kakashi kept his pout, but he also nodded. “Yes, I will eat anything Kaa-chan cooks.” 

“Oh, you are such a sweet boy for Kaa-chan. Thank you for giving it a chance, Kakashi.” 

I knew I was manipulating my child with positive encouragement. I was not the best mother anyway, but I wouldn't let Kakashi unarmed when I knew what he would face in the future. 

So I continued the story about how Konoha was built; Uchiha turned their backs to their leader, Madara’s defections and how he hid inside a cave. I didn’t remember where it was, so I just told Kakashi probably it was near Amegakure. I told him how Madara might still be alive because he has rinnegan which could siphon the power from the statue of ten tails. 

“Is he really still alive now, Kaa-chan?”

“Yes, he is. He is very old though, I think around 100 years or more. He is now the oldest shinobi alive.” 

“Wow.  _ Cool _ .” 

I wondered whether Kakashi would change his mind afterward. My personal opinion was that longer life didn't mean a good life. I preferred mine to be short and meaningful, leaving no burden to the people I left. That was why I tried to prepare my son as much as I could.

So I continued the story instead. About countries around us, about politics (kiddie-version of it anyway) and how nations turned against other nations. There were reasons behind human actions. But I wanted to plant the seed of suspicion inside Kakashi’s mind so that he could see everything could be traced back to Zetsu. 

“Everything could be traced to hidden meanings and manipulations. When you are too scared, too angry, too prideful, you lose your common sense and you will be manipulated. Just like Madara. Promise me you will keep yourself calm and rational, pup. Don’t get caught in Zetsu’s manipulation.”

“...Kaa-chan? Why is Zetsu doing all these bad things?”

I blinked. 

“Well… he wanted to make villagers at war with each other.”

“Why?”

“Because through war… he can get what he really wants. He wants to resurrect Kaguya.”

“What is resu-rect? Who’s Kaguya?”

“Resurrect is to restore a person back into life. Zetsu was doing it because he wanted Kaguya to come back. She was the first Otsusuki, the first lady who had chakra. She was like their mother.” 

“...So he did this to make his mother come back?” Kakashi looked at me. “... Can I do that too?” 

Oh damn. No, Kakashi. Although I was happy he learned quickly from my story (always ask why), the way I told him off the story made him sympathize with Zetsu. Abort! Abort! 

“... There is this thing called the circle of life, pup.” I smiled. “Life and Death are natural ways of everything. You can be alive because you will be dead. To disturb it will bring pain, both for you and for the one you bring back--in this case, me. No, baby, look at me. Please don’t look away. Look, I will try my best to stay alive for you and your father. Both of you are everything for me. But when the time comes for me to go, I want you to let me go. You will find a new person to live with, to be happy with. You don’t need me to always be happy. I will always be with you in your memory.” 

Kakashi squirmed in my arms. 

“I don’t understand, Kaa-chan.” 

“It’s alright for now. You are still too young.” I whispered. “But Kakashi, back to Zetsu, yeah? Kaguya wasn’t a good person. She wanted to take all the chakra on earth for herself. If that was the case, then everyone cannot have chakra, and we all would be dead. You don’t want that, do you?” 

“But he wants his mother back!” 

“At the cost of the rest of the world. There will be endless wars and Tou-chan will need to keep fighting. I myself would want Kakashi and Tou-chan alive instead of her coming back. Would you?” 

After a long time, Kakashi solemnly nodded. I patted his head. 

“Alright, enough with the storytime. Kaa-chan needs to cook now. Do you want to help?” 

“Yes, Kaa-chan.” Kakashi stood and helped me up. As we prepared our dinner, I wondered whether it was wise for me to tell all this to Kakashi. I didn’t know whether I was doing the right thing or not. But I would keep making Kakashi aware of what was happening so that he would survive and be happy. 

Maybe I should start with small things. I could make stories about Bijuu and how friendly they were. Yeah, that would do. 

***************************

On other days, Kakashi usually asked me to go to the park for picnics. Usually, when we went to the park, Kakashi ended up playing with Obito (and I was glad for it). They seemed to grow to be best buddies who were good for each other. My baby taught Obito the better way to train, whereas Obito taught Kakashi how to play along with the children. Obito also started to feel comfortable with me--he came along with my baby when it was time to have snacks. Sometimes Obito even had dinner with us too. I enjoyed it and prepared more because they were growing boys. Slowly another kid was roped into our snacking time, a boy named Asuma. 

I was surprised for a moment. Then I realised Sarutobi Asuma would be in the same class with my baby, just with Obito. Maybe I needed to start looking for others as well. Gai, Genma, Raidou. Kurenai, Gekko, Iruka, and Yugao seemed to be some years younger, I would look into it later. 

The weeks weren’t perfectly smooth either. I missed Sakumo quite a bit and wondering when would he be back. Missing him was new--It has been a long time since I had any relationship at all. It felt too quick, I just spent three days with my husband before he went away but I was already so attached. The scent on the bed was different from my old room, yet so familiar. Maybe this was what couple's commitment felt like. It was more than the need of companionship, it was kind of missing a limb you never knew you lost. Cliche as it might seem, I just wished he would be back soon. Hopefully with all limbs still intact. 

I also went to the hospital two times a week for check-up. The first time I went, I put Kakashi in the daycare. He looked resigned and didn’t comment when I left. He was clingier than usual when I fetched him, though, refusing to let me out of his sight for the rest of the day. We ended up sitting together, I taught him how to write alphabets while I wrote some new materials to submit to the publisher (I managed to find who my editor was--a civilian named Shiranui Keiko (maybe a relative of Genma’s?). I needed to contact her and discuss the possibility of the next storybook about bijuu, but so far I didn’t know how to contact her). 

Yet after that first time left in daycare when I went to the hospital, he refused to let me go. When I dropped him in front of the daycare, he stubbornly clung to my leg. I couldn’t detach him even with force. The ladies in the daycare looked miffed. I felt bad and told Kakashi to let me go, I would be back within two hours at most. 

“Kaa-chan doesn’t want me?” he asked with big teary eyes. “Kaa-chan’s leaving?”

Oh, that’s cheating. I couldn’t say no to that. 

“...I am just going to the hospital for a check-up, pup. You’ll be bored.” 

“But Kaa-chan went to the hospital and didn’t return for months last time.” He whined. “I won't let Kaa-chan go.” 

“Pup, there are germs and diseases in the hospital. You might get sick, and Kaa-chan doesn’t want Kakashi to get sick.” I tried to reason, bringing my son to my hip. He immediately latched onto my neck. “Please stay with the nice oba-san in the daycare for me?” 

Kakashi shook his head and latched on even tighter. 

“Kakashi…”

“I will go to where Kaa-chan is going.”

“Hospital is not a park, it’s not even a fun place. You will be bored there, pup.” 

“Don’t care. Don’t want to leave Kaa-chan.” 

And that’s how I ended up coming for my scheduled check-up with Kakashi on my arms. The kind medic-nin who was in charge of me -- Chuyuki Yui -- just laughed and let Kakashi sit beside me throughout the checkup. It seemed I was getting better, but I needed to watch my food intake as I couldn’t afford to ruin my liver function anymore--one drop of poison would throw me back into the surgery room, at least for the next year or so until my liver regenerated enough. 

She had explained before that Orochimaru did two different things within my surgery time: transplanting a new kidney (apparently it was still rare and controversial for civilians or cases like me, due to the possibility of blood coagulation since I didn’t have working chakra coil which can naturalised blood antigens). The other one was Orochimaru’s own secret as it wasn’t stated in the surgery record, but I bet my ass it was Edo-Tensei. I decided to file it for later when I could get Orochimaru to talk. The man was just like a snake, slipping in-between places I couldn’t catch. But I really needed to talk to him anyway. 

Yui-Sensei also advised me to do light exercises (I agreed with that because cleaning the house made me out of breath) and maintain my stress level. Other than that, I was as good as I could be. Yui-sensei looked at my kid and smiled too, “Your mother is fine, son. You don’t need to worry.” 

Kakashi just nodded solemnly and grabbed my hand tighter. 

“Thank you sensei.” I thanked her before we left. “Kakashi, say goodbye to Yui-sensei.” 

Kakashi mumbled something that made me huffed. Luckily Yui-sensei was such an easy-going person, she just let it go and told me to come again for the next check-up appointment. 

I know Kakashi has separation anxiety problems. Alo, he was getting too attached to me. I didn’t blame him or Sakumo. Kaori was sick for the majority of the time and was in a coma for the past half-year. Sakumo must have put Kakashi in the daycare more often than not, because of the missions and taking care of Kaori. Kakashi must be lonely. Now I am here with him, he would milk it as much as its worth. I hoped Kakashi would grow out of it soon. But I was not naive, I know this kind of behavior would stay if there was no action taken to secure his fears. 

I felt there were so many things to do, so little time. 

“Kakashi,” I called softly while patting his hair as we walked side by side through the road. He was holding my hand tightly, refusing to let me go even when we left the hospital. “...Kaa-chan is sorry to worry you. Kaa-chan has not been around much. But now I am here, so don’t you worry pup.” 

When he refused to reply, I sighed. Time to give him a bribe to cheer him up. I spoiled him too much. 

“Hmmm, how about some snacks? Kaa-chan is hungry. How about you?” 

He still refused to speak. 

“Pup, please talk. Kaa-chan cannot read your mind. Are you still mad at me?” 

Kakashi looked up and shook his head. 

“Answer with words, please. Kaa-chan wants to hear Kakashi’s voice.” 

Kakashi pouted but he answered softly, “I want takoyaki.”

I squeezed his hand in mine as a thank you. “Alright, takoyaki it is then.” 

Unfortunately, the takoyaki stand was closed that day. Feeling a bit disappointed, I looked around and saw the Ichiraku Ramen stand. 

“How about ramen?” I asked my baby. He contemplated his answer before nodding. We ended up sitting on the back, and we ordered miso ramen and tonkatsu ramen. 

While we were enjoying our meal, someone took the seat next to me. I wasn't really paying attention until I turned to see a beautiful teenager with long thick red hair. Her skin was tanned and her muscles were obvious with the sleeveless top. She was wearing the shinobi romper. Beside her sat another pretty teenager with yellow spiky hair and sweet smile. 

Oh. 

I was looking at Yondaime Minato and Kushina. They looked so young. They didn't pay attention to me and ordered their food. It made me smile, probably I would be able to see how much ramen an Uzumaki could finish in one meal. 

“Kaa chan?” Kakashi called me from my thoughts. I turned to my baby and smiled. 

“Yes, pup?” 

“That lady smells like a fox”. 

Everything suddenly stopped. Damn. But I couldn't confirm it now for I would raise suspicion. So instead I patted his head and gave him another narutomaki from my bowl. He was right after all and deserved the reward. 

I pretended Kakashi didn't say anything and waited till my son finished, then quickly paid and left the stall. I could feel the two teenagers' attention on me the whole time, even though they pretended to have conversations with each other. 

Kakashi looked at me. “Kaa chan?” 

“...Uhm, pup. I think we both need to relearn how to keep a secret.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I plead to the law of fanfiction. everything is possible. hehe.


	6. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OC met her editor and her husband. The bijuu storybook was born.

It was by chance that I finally met my editor, Shiranui Keiko. We were at the park, Kakashi playing with his friends. Asuma was it and Kakashi, Obito, and several other kids ran to hide from Asuma. I watched from the bench as usual, happy that my son was playing happily. 

"Kaori san?" A voice called out to me, and a tall, pretty lady with a brown ponytail walked towards me. I automatically moved to allow her to sit. I wasn’t sure who she was though, as she didn’t look familiar. 

“It’s been a long time and what are you doing here?”

“I… I am here with my son,” I answered, but I didn’t reveal which. 

“Oh, that’s nice. I am here with mine too. His name is Genma.” 

I blinked. Oh. She must be Shiranui Keiko, my editor. I relaxed. “Oh, I never know. How old is he now?”

“He is six and will be going to the academy this year.” she smiled. “But enough about my kid. Kaori san, how are you? I haven’t heard from you in half a year, probably more. I was worried, you know. You didn’t look good the last time we met to discuss your script. I sent some letters as well, but you didn’t reply.” 

“Ah.” I murmured. She seemed clueless to Kaori’s coma and operation. I decided to keep it that way. “I am sorry to worry you. I wasn’t feeling well… but now I am better.” 

“Are you sure? I won’t push you to produce more script, Kaori-san. It’s fine you can take time to get better.” 

“Oh, no, I am fine now. I also have my new stories ready. Would you like to see them?” 

“Of course I’d love to,” she said encouragingly. Her smile reminded me of Genma in the anime, with his laid back personality and easy-going smile. We ended up chatting about other things and possible plots in the future (I hinted on my plans: Bijuu storybook, a touch of Mada-Tobi love story which I would substitute the name on, and Harry Potter fanfics). It felt great to actually chat with an adult in weeks. 

“Kaa-chan, snack.” 

I turned to my son, watching us with curiosity. Behind him stood Obito, Asuma, and Genma. I smiled at all of them and asked them to wash their hands first. They ran to the fountain. Keiko looked at me in interest. 

“Which one is your son?” 

“My son is Kakashi, the smallest one.” 

“Oh.” she nodded while I opened my picnic bag and pulled out Tupperwares worth of sliced apples, oranges, and cookies. “Wow, you do prepare a lot of food.” 

“They are growing boys, they sure need their food.” I laughed. “Please have some as well, Keiko-san. I made the cookies myself.”

“Hmm. This is amazing.” Keiko praised me politely. I nodded my thanks and then the swarm of boys came back to us. They each took their snack and started to eat. I was introduced to Genma and I promised Keiko-san to meet her tomorrow afternoon in the park again to submit my script. 

I was reluctant to give my family name or address to Keiko, because I wasn’t sure how she would react to my stories. And since Kaori didn’t tell her our family name, instead just our maiden name, meant Kaori was still keeping distance with the editor. I would need to be cautious. But she has seen my baby and only a blind person wouldn’t see the Hatake clan’s defining features on my son. 

Right. I needed to prepare all the scripts for tomorrow. 

* * *

I just finished tucking Kakashi to bed when the front food was opened. 

“I’m home.” 

I blinked and almost ran towards the door. Sakumo was standing by the door, looking tired and dirty. His eyes were dark and haunted, but they lighted a bit when he saw me. I came near and slowly put my hand on his arm. 

“Welcome back, Hubby.” I smiled softly and asked for a kiss. He gave me one. His scent was different: the scent of sun and dust, a hint of blood. But underneath it was our room’s scent. My husband is back. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently, conveying my happiness that he was home. 

“How are you?” he whispered. “Your body alright?”

“I am fine, Sakumo.” I whispered back. “How about you?” 

“Mission was successful. I am just tired.” 

I ushered him inside, ready to take his bag from him. But he caught my hand and shook his head softly. “I’ll clean up first.” 

I nodded and noted to myself. I should not take any of his belongings without his permission. Shinobi was supposed to be very private and careful with their weapons and supplies after all. So instead, I pushed down my hurt for being rejected and turned to make tea. I also looked around for leftover food. But dinner was done and Kakashi ate the whole lot, so I decided to make some Ochazuke instead. I put in some shredded salmon and shredded seaweed pieces too. 

When he came out from the bath, he looked way better. He was still the most handsome man in my life. I gestured for him to sit on the chair, then put the Ochazuke on the table. I poured additional warm green tea too and sat beside him. 

He looked at the meal like he couldn’t believe it. I chuckled and touched his wet, long hair. 

“I miss you, Sakumo.” 

He turned and looked at me like I was a dream. He gathered and tugged me into his one arm hug. 

“Thank you,” he said. “I… I wasn’t expecting this.” 

“Thank you too, for returning home to us safely,” I answered and kissed his cheek. “Eat up, Hubby. You look very tired. Are you hurt?”

He stopped smiling and looked away. I knew something must be wrong. 

I squeezed his arm softly. 

“Wanna share with me?” 

He ignored me and started to eat the Ochazuke. I waited until he swallowed before I tried again. I knew this type of behavior. Back when I was little, I watched my father silently refuse to tell us anything, even when his company was going down. I watched my mother try to coax him every time he did it, until a year later, father finally relented and told us he took a huge loan to keep us afloat. 

I respected my father for admitting it and I loved my mother for her persistence in helping my father. 

“... A burden shared is a burden halved, Hubby.” 

His grip on the chopstick tightened. I knew I needed to keep trying. Sakumo’s suicide told me he must have some kind of depression, even before the incident happened. Judging from the timeline, the incident would happen next year after Kakashi entered the academy. 

“Take your time, Sakumo. I promise I will listen.” I smiled and patted his arm, then rose to slice some apples. “Would you like some apples?” 

“... Yes, please. Thank you for the food. It’s good.” 

At least he wasn’t angry with me. So I peeled them and made them bunny-shaped before putting it in front of him. He thanked me with a smile and ate everything. I told him to go to bed first, while I cleaned up. I found him on our bed, topless, eyes empty, staring at our ceilings. I huffed and turned off the light, before snuggling in. I took his face with my hand and kissed him lightly. 

“Please let me,” I whispered and kissed his eyelids, then his nose and his lips last. I slowly put his head onto my shoulder, and let him move to accommodate me. He ended up hiding his face on my chest, arms around my waist. His skin was hot on mine, but I aimed for comfort and not for lust. I hushed him softly, just like I did with Kakashi. His hair was a bit wet and tangled as I combed them with my fingers. 

“You are safe now, Sakumo. You are back home with us. Thank you. You can rest now.” 

He huffed and hugged me tighter. I let him and kept repeating the words like a mantra. Again and again. Until he slowly relaxed and his breathing slowed down. I kept patting his hair until I fell asleep. 

* * *

Kakashi was thrilled when he saw Sakumo on our bed and proceeded to jump onto the bed.

“Tou-chan! You are back!” he jumped on our stomach and I groaned loudly. Kakashi was stomping my poor liver. He stopped and apologised, then snuggled between Sakumo and me. Sakumo groaned but caught the little tyke and pulled him closer. 

“I am back, pup.” 

I happily kissed both of them on the forehead and slipped out of bed. “Right. Kakashi, stay with your father, please. Kaa-chan will prepare breakfast.” 

“Tou-chan! Teach me more jutsu, please! I have mastered the ones you taught me last time!” Kakashi asked excitedly. My hubby groaned. I pitied him and told Kakashi to stop.

“Kakashi, Tou-chan is still tired from the mission. Would you be a good boy and stay with your father in silence? He needs to rest.” 

“Oh.” Kakashi looked shy and snuggled to his father. “Sorry, Tou-chan.” 

“It’s alright, Kaori, Kakashi.” Sakumo smiled and pulled Kakashi up. “I am hungry anyway.” 

“Yes! Kaa-chan’s cooking is the best! Better than yours, Tou-chan.” 

“Ouch.” His comment made me giggle. I proceeded to the kitchen and started cooking. I made miso shiru, white rice, and grilled tuna fillet. I only had two pieces, so I made myself tamagoyaki. Setting up the table, I added some natto and can tsukemono (pickled vegetables). I poured some tea too. 

“Alright, boys. The food’s ready!” I called them. 

Sakumo walked out with our baby in his arms. He looked better than yesterday, his bare torso made me almost drool so I looked away. Bad girl. Sakumo needed the comfort of a wife, not a sex fiend! He smiled at me warmly and I returned it. 

“Please clean up first before you eat,” I asked them. Kakashi nodded and told his father to take them back to the bathroom with authority. I chuckled, loving the whole domestic atmosphere. 

When we finally ate, I let Kakashi enjoy his food and then looked at my husband. 

“Feeling better?” 

He nodded. “Thank you, Kaori.” 

“I am glad, Hubby. Oh, today I am going to meet my editor in the park. Kakashi will be going with me. How about you?”

He swallowed his food before answering me back. “I might need to go to the HQ first. But I can take care of Kakashi while you are meeting your editor.” 

“Oh, no, it’s fine.” I shook my head. I didn’t want my editor to see my husband. I was going to publish dangerous stories, I didn’t want to be tracked back to Hatake. “Kakashi can go with me. You can rest, Hubby.” 

Sakumo just nodded. Kakashi heard his name was mentioned and took it as permission to start talking. He told Sakumo about the park, his friends, Obito, Asuma, snacks, and playing tags. Sakumo looked like he was enjoying Kakashi’s jabbering away, so I let my baby dominate the breakfast talk. 

It felt perfect. I wished we could stay that way forever. 

* * *

_ One day, Kamisama is lonely. So he creates the Ten-tooth. But Ten-tooth is naughty, so Kamisama divides him into nine children.  _

_ The first is named Kurama -- he has nine teeth and he likes pranks. Kurama travels far and wide. He wants a friend, but his friend is not born yet. He stays with a red-haired lady and waits until his friend is born. _

_ The second is named Gyuuki -- he has eight teeth and he likes to rhyme. Gyuuki stays with a friend who likes to rhyme, and together they rhyme and enjoy their time together.  _

_ The third is named Choumei -- she has seven teeth and she likes to fly. She decides to fly and meets a little girl who likes to fly too, so they fly together.  _

_ The fourth is named Saiken -- he has six teeth and he likes bubbles. He waits for his friend to make bubbles, and Saiken will jump to catch the bubbles. His friend likes to make bubbles, so they enjoy the bubbles together.  _

_ The fifth is named Kokuo -- he has five teeth and he likes illusion. Kokuo finds his tall friend in his illusion, and together they create illusions for others to enjoy.  _

_ The sixth is named Son Goku -- he has four teeth and he likes fire. Son Goku hides at the top of the mountain to play with fire, and he finds his friend there. Together they create fire and burns but stop before it burns the world.  _

_ The seventh is named Isobu -- he has three teeth and he likes to sleep. His friend likes to sleep too, and because both are very sleepy, they sleep away until someone wakes them up.  _

_ The eighth is named Matatabi -- she has two teeth and she likes to purr. She finds a beautiful blond princess and they groom each other’s hair.  _

_ The ninth is named Shukaku -- he has one tooth and he likes to play. But he is still searching for a friend to play with and feels very lonely. He gets angry until a red-haired boy decides to be his friend.  _

_ They are siblings. They love and tease each other. But they lived so far away, and each found a friend, so they won’t feel lonely. Because they are not monsters, they are just lonely. But when they are together with their friends, they don’t feel lonely anymore.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine the illustration of a cute storybook -- cute bijuu chibis <3 
> 
> I enjoy writing this so much ~! Thank you for reading :)


	7. Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaori and Sakumo together. SMUT ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains hetero smut. there is a separator for it.

“Uhm… Kaori-san… these ‘teeth’...” Keiko looked worried over my new script. 

I knew she must have some doubts about the bijuu story because it was a sensitive secret. Yet since the Kurama-attack hasn’t occurred as yet, I didn’t think it would be that dangerous. And the imagination of the chibis illustration fuelled my gung-ho approach. That was why I changed the "tails" into "Tooth". Just like plausible deniability. 

“Yes, Keiko-san?” I blasted her my best ‘customer service’ smile, which usually worked for my clients, even the hardest ones. 

“Uhm… Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I am sure.” I smiled. “And I need them to be illustrated with cute chibi images, just like this.” I showed them my botched caricature of 9 bijuus and their jinchurikis. “I am sure it will go well, Keiko-san, don't you worry!” 

She looked constipated for a moment, before sighing. “Alright. I’ll try my best. How about this… Hari Potta?” 

“Oh, it’s about a boy who found out he was a wizard and then went to a magic school.” 

“Hmmm.. it’s pretty unusual, since our young audience mostly wanted to be a shinobi.” 

“Think about it, Keiko-san. This has the potential to be a great new category. The shinobi-related fantasy genre is already too saturated. It’s time to try something new, something about magic and adventures. The plot also appeals to young children because the main character is ambiguous. Also, they come in three in a team-- just like Konoha’s genin team. It would be great, I promise!” 

She didn’t look like she believed me, but she finally agreed and took away three scripts. We then discussed the payment and fees, which I thought was quite alright, 40% of the profit. She then told me it would be given to me as a cash payment for our next meeting if any of the three accepted for print. It made me wonder why using cash instead of a bank transfer, but apparently there was no banking system in Konohagakure, due to the nature of its money -- the villages were still so much segregated with each other that sometimes the currency differed from one section to another. They were operating like in the 1600’s banking system with multiple different lenders. Each clan has its own union which allows saving and lending only within their own clans. For civilians, it was mostly merchants and local currency converters who acted as the money lenders and they charged quite a high amount for both saving and borrowing. The villages themselves have their own treasury, but it was solely for missions and tax-related income, just like a central treasury. They didn’t allow people to save or borrow. 

Maybe I could start the idea of a union. A civilian union, outside the power of the military or the daimyo’s. I could be the main accountant while Sakumo would be my security head. Interesting. I could start making ATMs. 

Well, that would be a daydream for another day. I needed to focus on what’s in front of me. 

* * *

“We are back,” I called out when we arrived home. 

“Touchan, we are back!” Kakashi also called out, immediately rushed inside, throwing his sandals everywhere. It seemed it was a novel for him to expect Sakumo waiting for us at home.

“Kakashi, don't throw your sandals… oh well,” I huffed and put it away anyway. 

Sakumo stood in the hallway, kakashi already in his arms. “Welcome back, Kaori.” He called back to me, taking the grocery bag from my hand. 

I smiled. “How are you feeling? I hope you feel better.” 

Sakumo nodded and bent down to kiss me. Kakashi moaned. “Ewwww!”

Sakumo and I chuckled over our baby’s reaction. “I will need to prepare for dinner soon. Can you please play with Kakashi?” 

“No, Kaa-chan. Tou-chan needs to help cooking too! He can learn how to cook.” Kakashi said with authority as he patted Sakumo’s shoulder. Sakumo looked boggled. 

I laughed and started to pull out the groceries from its bag. I bought some meat for the boys, planning to make meatballs and rice. Sakumo hoovered behind me with Kakashi in his arms. I told them to start helping by mincing the meat with garlic and a bit of flour. Sakumo and Kakashi made it into a game, who could last longer mincing the meat. I left them be and cooked some rice as well as making side dishes. 

When the meat was ready, I asked them to roll it into even-sized balls. What happened was Sakumo made a big ball instead and Kakashi made small little balls. I huffed and ordered them to make it even, or we wouldn’t have any for dinner. They pouted, my lovely boys, but we ended up with nice-if not too evenly sized- balls, leaving me frying them until they were dry and crispy. 

********

Dinner was fun. Sakumo and Kakashi enjoyed the meal so much since they contributed too. The meatballs were a bit too salty in my opinion (no pun intended), but both of them finished it in a jiffy. They both devoured the stir fry I made as well, making me very happy inside. 

After dinner, we sat on the floor under the kotatsu. Sakumo taught Kakashi the twelve hand seals and I ordered them to make sure nothing caught on fire. We enjoyed the chamomile tea while letting time pass by slowly. Kakashi seemed to forget his dependence on me and focused solely on his father. I felt a bit lonely, but my baby and my hubby were bonding, who was I to disturb them? 

So I took my books and my scripts and started to write. This time I wrote about the love quadrangle between Hashirama, Madara, Tobirama and Mito. I knew it might raise suspicions, especially since I wrote the Bijuu stories as well. But I was using a different pen name and each story would be published (if the publisher has the balls to publish my story) under a different genre, I hoped it wouldn’t be too obvious. 

When Kakashi yawned, I noticed it was time for his bedtime. So I ushered him to wash his teeth and feet before putting him to bed. Sakumo followed us and we sat on the side of his bed. Kakashi looked very cuddly with his flushed cheek, happy because he got both of his parents on his bedside that night. I chuckled and started my story, this time about a small lion who wanted to become a king, and then ran away before finally found his way back home. 

I finished my story and Kakashi was already fast asleep. I kissed his forehead, then turning to my husband to see him looking at me contemplatively. I raised my eyebrows and he smiled softly. 

“You are a really good storyteller and a good mother, Kaori.” 

I blushed with pleasure. I knew I was cheating because Lion King was not created by me, but I knew how to make a story worth telling. And for my hubby to tell me I was being a good mother… well, I felt like one very happy woman. I gestured for him to silently move out from Kakashi’s room and I locked the door behind me. 

“Now, Hubby, it’s adult time.” 

He blushed when I said it, his pupils dilated and I could see his throat constricted with  _ want _ .

“No! I mean finance talk!” I hushed him, blushing myself. We sat on the table and I pulled out the list of actions I had made before, starting on the investment portfolios, the possibility of opening Hatake compounds for lenders as well as plans to cover my medical bills (I still had them apparently). Sakumo looked boggled by the end of it. 

“When… When did you learn all of this?” he asked, voice small. 

“Uhm. I had lots of time to think. And I want the best for Kakashi, so…” I tried to reason with him, trying to keep them on the plan instead of suspecting me of someone else. Well, technically I was not Kaori, but now I felt like I was Kaori. 

“Oh, of course.” he nodded and looked back onto my plans. “Well, I think these are plausible plans. I think we need to open the compound first. I can get a genin team to help with the clean up and rebuilding. It will take longer than a month, though…” 

It continued in that fashion, with Sakumo giving me details on how it would work and why it wouldn’t, and then giving me other possible suggestions. I found myself reversed back to my project manager status, gladly receiving feedback from my teammate. And Sakumo was a very good advisor indeed. This man was just the perfect match for me, be it physically or mentally. 

However, in the middle of our discussion, a crow came and knocked on the window. I turned to my husband, who sighed and opened the window for the crow to come in. It gave his legs to my husband, which has a note. He read it and groaned, while the crow left us from the still open window. 

“A mission again?” I asked softly. “...You just come back.” 

He sighed. “I know, but It's my job, Kaori…” 

”I know. I am sorry.” I looked away. “...but it doesn’t mean I like it. You just come back, you are still tired and hurt…”

Sakumo sighed and pulled me to his chest. I let myself rest against his warm, hard body. He felt real now, and I wished he wouldn’t need to go so soon. 

He played with my hair and I let him. For a long moment, neither of us talked, regardless of our unfinished discussion before. Suddenly he spoke. 

“...I made a boy an orphan. He saw me killing his parents. all I could think of was what if he was Kakashi.” he whispered. “It was the mission, and I needed to dispose of the enemy. But I don’t feel… right.” 

I sighed. “...Your mission is stupid. But no matter what you do, I will support you.” 

“Kaori…”

“I know you must have thought and decided your action thoroughly. Whatever you do, I trust you have thought it properly and that's why I will support you no matter what. But I need you to come back to me, Sakumo. To come back to us.  _ We need you _ .” 

“… I promise, Kaori. I promise I will always come back to you. But I need to take missions to support all of us. It's my job.”

I sighed again and collecting the rolls of scrolls in front of us. “Don't worry, Hubby. I can help to support this family too. Even if I cannot be a shinobi again, I can still be a supporting wife and work. You don't need to worry about us.”

“But I am your husband, I should be the one who supports all of you,” he growled as he shook his head.

I turned to him. “ _ No, _ we are husband and wife. We support each other. You had supported me when I was sick for years. Now that I am better, I can support you back. I’d rather you be home more rather than you taking missions that hurt you.” 

“Kaori… I am one of the top jounins here. My service is required by the village.” 

“Screw the village. I need you. Kakashi needs you. I won't let you be used to death by them.” I huffed, “Can’t I be selfish about my own husband?”

He chuckled and held me tighter, then gave me a kiss on the cheek. I smiled and played with his long fingers. 

“Ah. By the way, I need to thank Orochimaru-san.” 

My husband's face suddenly darkened. “Don't mention that name ever again.” 

“Why?” I asked curiously. He sounded so angry. 

“He operated on you without my knowing. I don't know what I'll do if I lose you, Kaori.” 

“...Hubby, I am here now. I did agree with the operation, it's fine.”

“No, it isn't. You were his guinea pig! He didn't even have a medic license! You could die and I don't even know it!”

“... I understand. I am sorry I worry you,” I hugged him. “Please don't work yourself over this. What's done is done. We need to stay in the present, yeah? He did save my life, though. I hope you can forgive me for this.”

“I’ll never be angry at you, Kaori.” he whispered softly and kissed my hair. 

I smiled and straddled him. “Oh Hubby, I really, really miss you.” 

“I missed you too,” he smiled back, staring deeply into my eyes. 

His eyes were so tense and mesmerizing. I kissed him again, then his cheeks. I lowered myself down onto his neck and chest. I let my hand roam around his chest and nipples. They were hard. I felt myself get wetter. He groaned, pushed me softly, and slowly sliding off my top. 

“May I?” He asked. 

“I thought you'd never ask.” I grinned and grabbed his cheek for another deep kiss. He growled, finishing our kiss in a sudden stroke then pulled me in the princess carry towards our bedroom. He pushed the door close with his feet and put me onto the bed. 

Then he locked the door and sealed it for privacy. 

* * *

SMUT START 

I ended up on top of him, facing him, his cock locking my body with him as I pushed down and he pushed his hip up. His cock opened my body, making me writhe in lust. I was wetter than ever, hip moving up and down in random rhythm, just to get more friction from the nice, hard body underneath me. I gasped and moaned softly, hanging onto the pillow underneath Sakumo’s head. His mouth was inches from my nipples and he lapped at it. 

“Baby, your breasts are the best,” He growled and sucked hard. I almost screamed. I let my long hair covering us, my body bent to accommodate his cock in my wet vagina and his mouth on my nipples. I was very sensitive and his tongue was very playful. 

I screamed when I finally reached my orgasm. He still chased his, so he turned us around and opened my legs wide before ramming back hard. I moaned. Too sensitive and his cock touched the opening of my cervix, but I let him chase his orgasm by thrusting erratically into me. Meanwhile, his finger found my clit and flicked. 

“No..nooo, too much!” I moaned as I felt another possible orgasm was coming. 

He stopped his finger and dropped on top of me instead, body warm and sweaty and heavy covering my own. His hip still thrust though, chasing his pleasure inside me. I let my hands caress everything I could find. His arms, his back, his neck. 

With a hard last thrust, he came flooding in me. I shuddered, feeling him filling me up. I couldn't help but moaned and asked for another kiss, freely given. 

We stayed locked for another moment before he rose and slowly pulled himself out of me. I was breathless. 

“Are you alright, honey?” He asked apologetically. I nodded. He looked wrecked and sweaty, and I was sure I looked the same too. We were both flushed and happy. 

“I love you.” I said sternly. My eyes suddenly became wet. “I love you, you bad, handsome man.” 

He smiled at me, then kissed my forehead. “I don't deserve you,” he said. 

“You do. You deserve me and Kakashi and more. You deserve us, Sakumo. don't you forget it.” 

He chuckled and laid beside me, arms snaking around me to pull me close. I let him, letting myself be comforted with his scent and warmth. My lower half felt sticky and I felt his seed ooze out from my folds, but I let them be. 

“I love you too, Kaori.” he whispered, tucking both of us with the blanket. His body was still sweaty and we were sticky, but it was warm and filled with our scents together. I let myself be lulled on his naked chest, ready to surrender to sleep when he whispered. 

“Sometimes… sometimes I want to keep you and Kakashi inside this house and lock everybody else away.” Sakumo whispered. “I am a selfish man like that.”

I hummed in sleepiness. “..Would you let me do that to you too?” 

Sakumo didn't answer, but he put his arms tighter around me. 

SMUT DONE

* * *

The next morning, Sakumo went for another brief with the Hokage before breakfast. It was a solo mission I didn’t recognise, so it must be one of the missions Sakumo had that wasn’t told in canon. After breakfast with me hovering and trying to make sure he has enough supplies with him, Kakashi and I walked him unto the gates of Konoha. He carried Kakashi with him while I walked beside them, hand hanging onto Sakumo’s arm. 

“Kakashi, take care of your mother for me.”

“Yes, Tou-chan.” Kakashi nodded as if he was given a mission. Sakumo put him down and rubbed his hair. He turned to me and gave me a long kiss. 

“Ewww,” Kakashi moaned because we embarrassed him. 

We pulled away and chuckled. I told him to eat the bento I made which was sealed inside his scroll. I gave him one last kiss before he let us go. 

“Don't get hurt and please come back soon,” I whispered. 

“Yes, Kaori. I promise,” He said and then he turned, walking away towards the forest. We waited until Sakumo was gone from our sight and then turned back towards the city. 

So, now that Sakumo has gone for the mission, it was time for the next step. I needed to find Orochimaru and made him good. Or at least, good for my baby and hubby. I knew Sakumo might be against this, but I already made up my mind. 

Orochimaru might become such a bad enemy in the future, but right now he seemed to be just another overpowered shinobi with a bad past and loneliness, easily manipulated by Danzo. 

Oh Danzo. I didn’t even know what to do with him. 

Well, I needed to start somewhere. So I gritted my teeth and decided to start contact with Orochimaru first. But that meant I needed to find him, and I didn’t know where to start. … Wait, actually I might be able to get him.  I turned to my baby. “Alright, Kakashi. Can you help Kaa-chan? Please help me find a man who smells like a snake.” 

“Snake, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi’s cute face looked confused. “Like the lady who smelled like a fox?” 

“Yes, pup. He was the one who operated on me and saved me. So we need to thank him properly.” 

Kakashi shrugged. “Okay, Kaa-chan.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your kind kudos, comments and bookmark! I am floored with the warm reception :) 
> 
> Thank you again!


	8. Orochimaru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Orochimaru is like a cute stray dog. Kaori collects all stray dogs.

It took Kakashi a day to find Orochimaru, but in the end we managed to single out his little hut on the outskirts of Konoha walls. It was near the forest, with thatch roof and dull grey walls. It looked like a deserted place, if not for the pots and well-managed patches of vegetation outside it. 

The next day, I walked with Kakashi on my left and a huge bento box on my right. I praised Kakashi for his ability to track, and he looked proud of it. My son kept looking at me, gabbing my hands and showing the hut. 

“He’s there, Kaa-chan! I know he is inside!” 

“Alright, alright pup. Thank you for the notice. You are an amazing tracker.” I praised him and ruffled his soft silver hair. He puffed with pride, his cheek flushed with excitement. I knew I was guilty of utilising Kakashi as my personal detector, yet I was actually training him to track. Kakashi has yet to summon his ninken, maybe I would ask Sakumo next time. 

I also had prepared a huge meal in the bento box, a feast for four people at least. I might be over-preparing stuff, but I wanted to make a good impression with the Snake Legendary Sanin. He was the one who brought me alive after all. I owed my happiness with Sakumo and Kakashi to him. 

We knocked on the front door and waited for someone to open the door. 

The next ten minutes, I was still standing while Kakashi started to whine and asked whether we could enter from the window, like a shinobi. I hushed my child gently and told him it was just polite to use the door. 

Just a minute after I said that, the door was opened. A beautiful long-haired man opened the door. I immediately recognized him from his face markings, lithe androgynous look. He looked tired and … lonely. 

“How may I help you?”

“Orochimaru-san?” I inquired politely. He looked at me suspiciously but nodded. “Ah, Kaori here. I am sure you are aware of me. Well, I am here to express my gratitude for saving my life. May I come in?”

Orochimaru didn’t move. “...Why?” 

“I bring some bento with me, and I hope you would like to enjoy it together.”

“....I don’t need your gratitude,” he whispered and almost closed the door, but I put my feet (ouch, the pain!) between the door before he closed it. 

I put on my best customer service smile (I was glad I perfected it years ago). I felt like an insurance door to door salesman. I knew I was being weird and rude, but learning from his teammates, the only way I could make Orochimaru open to me was to be like Jiraiya (persistent) or Tsunade (fierce). I could be both. 

“Oh, Thank you, Orochimaru-san,” I gleefully smiled, which made him slowly open up the door. He looked at me strangely and backtracked, so pushed in with my kid in tow. The house was tidy albeit small and almost dark, it made me feel so sad that Orochimaru stayed in this little dingy hut. He should get more sunshine, or at least that was what I knew about snakes--they liked to sunbathe. I also believed that depressions could also be worsened by cold and lack of sunshine. 

I seated myself by the side of the only low table in the house, while Orochimaru stood, looking confused. Kakashi followed me and sat beside me, his eyes roamed around for the novelty of other people’s houses. 

“I am sure you haven’t had much breakfast, right? Please come and have lunch with us!” 

The long-haired beauty stood in silence for a long moment while I opened up the bento box I brought with me. I have proudly made some sakura shaped onigiri, tamagoyaki, chicken and beef teriyaki, salads, dashi-infused potatoes, miso eggplant soup, and tsukemono. I also brought with me some cutlery and bowls. I wasn’t sure Orochimaru had enough cutlery to receive guests, and I wouldn’t want to shame him if he didn’t have that. 

Orochimaru finally sat across the table. I quickly put a little of everything and put it in front of him. Then I took Kakashi’s favorite and put it for my son, before taking some for myself. 

“Ah, May I use your kitchen? I brought some tea too, but I need hot water.” 

“...I have some hot water.” Orochimaru spoke softly before rising up and fetched the kettle for me. I nodded and poured some powdered matcha into three cups (it was a set with the bento box) and poured the water. Then I put it in front of us, before smiling. 

“Well? Please enjoy the meal.” 

Kakashi took my words as permission to start eating. “Itadakimasu!” 

I smiled and then turned to Orochimaru, tilting my head. He blinked before slowly nodded. 

“Itadakimasu.” 

* * *

“So.” I closed the now empty bento box into the bag. “Thank you for saving me, Orochimaru-san.” 

“...Don’t mind it.” he huffed. But he looked better, probably he was just hangry after all. I was afraid he didn’t like my cooking. But after finishing the first bowl, Orochimaru started to take more and we managed to finish the whole bento between three of us. For a lithe man, he sure ate quite a lot. Or maybe he didn’t eat enough. “... Thank you for the food.” 

“Oh, you are welcome. I am glad you like the food. I can cook for you every day too!” 

“You… You don’t need to. This meal is enough.”

“I believe my life is dearer than the price of a meal, though, Orochimaru-san.” I smiled. “I have decided to include you in my family meal plan, so please feel free to tell me your favorite food.” 

“You… you really don’t have to. Why are you doing this?” he asked again, this time his face blank, his voice turned sharp with suspicion. 

“I do it because you saved my life. I do it because I get more time with my pup,” I dragged Kakashi into my arms, while he let me and cuddled closer. “I do it because you saved my husband from being a single father. I do it because I want to. I do it because you need it. You can pick your reasons. But I am here now, and I won’t let you be alone.” 

Orochimaru blinked. I couldn’t read much from his poker face, but I trusted my instinct. 

“I am sorry I haven’t come sooner. I was still adjusting with my new life, with a comparatively healthy body. I remembered our deals, as well as your smile when you welcomed me back to life in the operation room. To be honest my husband doesn’t like that I agree to let you operate on me. But I have no regrets, only gratitude for you. So let me help you, just like you help me.” 

I poured another cup of tea onto three of the glasses and let my son play with my long sleeve. I knew Kakashi was listening closely while pretending to be a kid. My genius boy knew he must not disturb the situation. What a clever boy. 

“I may have listened to several voices in the cities about your ...vagabond teammates and you are the last of your clan. I wonder… would you like to join us in the Hatake compound? I am building a new apartment of sorts. You can come with us and stay there. Then you can always join us for meals everyday.” 

“...I am not a charity case, Hatake-san.” a hint of anger filled his voice. 

“And you are not. You are still one of the best shinobi in this village. But I definitely don’t want you to be alone. You have saved me from dying alone. Now please let me repay you by being your companion.” 

“Haven’t you heard about my… strangeness?” Orochimaru asked instead. “People fear me because of reasons, you know.” 

“I know and I don’t fear you, Orochimaru-san. You are still a hero for me.”

“...people don’t usually call me a hero like my teammates.”

“They don’t save my life. And I don’t see them around, do I? You stay, and they _don’t_.” Kaori might have been saved if Tsunade was around. The legendary medical nin could grow the kidney inside someone’s body in two hours. But she wasn’t around, was she? 

Orochimaru saw the hint of anger with my last note. “... I might have used your operations as my trial. I am not as selfless as you believe me to be, Hatake-san.” 

“Nevertheless, your trial has saved me. Every medical breakthrough needs clinical trials. People like you, who trial and error to find innovation, are the real heroes.” I ignored the other side of the story where Orochimaru used kidnapped children. At least at this point in time he hasn’t started to join Danzo and experimented on children. True, he did approach people like Kaori who has no cure or other way out. But at least he still has the best intention to provide a cure of sorts. 

I might be trying too hard to accept Orochimaru. But I really want him to stop his destructive path. He was such a good mother to Mitsuki, and I trusted that part of him. 

Orochimaru sighed and drank his tea. I smiled and kissed Kakashi’s hair. My son looked at me and then he turned to Orochimaru. 

“Orochimaru-san, thank you for healing my mother.” 

Kakashi was just _adorable_. The sincerity of his voice touched me. I knew Kakashi was a genius and had a better understanding than kids his age, but this showed his real awareness of the situation. And he was trying to help me. 

I chuckled and nodded. “Right. Thank you for having us today, Orochimaru-san. I will come back tomorrow with another lunch, or you can also join us at Hatake compound soon.” 

Orochimaru just nodded slightly and let us out from his home. I knew he wouldn’t approach us by himself, so I would need to come back again tomorrow to feed him. I smiled at my baby, who walked beside me matching my steps with his short legs. 

“Thank you for helping Kaa-chan, Kakashi.” 

Kakashi looked up to me, “Kaa-chan, who is Orochimaru-san?” 

“Well, Orochimaru is a legendary shinobi. He is one of the three Legendary Sannin of Konoha, students of the Sandaime Hokage. With his team, Jiraiya and Senju Tsunade, three of them were able to win battles after battles for Konoha. Jiraiya is a very accomplished seal master, Tsunade is the best medic and strongest kunoichi, while Orochimaru is the smartest of them.”

“Where is his team? Can we meet them?” 

“Unfortunately both of them are away from Konoha. It’s a pity because as a team, they were really strong. Teamwork makes you stronger. Kakashi will have a good team later, so please work together with them?”

“Oh. I will, Kaa-chan. ...Do you think Orochimaru-san can teach me?”

I hummed. I would try that. Kakashi needed all the best teachers he could get. 

“He may. I will ask him to. But Kakashi needs to promise Kaa-chan you will work hard, alright?” 

Kakashi nodded and fluffed with excitement. I couldn’t help but hug him and carried him up. He helped carry the bento box, while I carried him in my arms. 

“Huff. Kakashi is getting bigger,” I teased. “Soon I won’t be able to carry you like this anymore.”

Kakashi looked offended. “I can stay small so you can still carry me,” he said. 

“Oh, no, Baby. I want you to grow up big, tall and strong like Tou-chan. Kaa-chan’s sure Kakashi will be the strongest, just like Tou-chan.” I kissed his cheek. “Kaa-chan can still carry you anyway!” 

He pouted, but I caught him hiding a small smile. I loved him so much, my little precious baby. I promised I would try everything to make my son’s future brighter. Starting with preventing Sakumo’s suicide, making sure Kakashi has a support system in place, probably preventing Kurama’s rampage and Minato’s death, stopping Danzo and ensure my pup’s teammate didn’t end up as Kaguya’s pawn. 

I brought Kakashi to the market with me, because now I needed to cook something amazing for Orochimaru and us tomorrow. While shopping and answering Kakashi’s random questions (“why is the sky blue, Kaa-chan?” -- I suspected Kakashi was trying to test the limit of my knowledge. Lucky for him I was a science major in high school), I wondered what I should do next. Maybe I could make another story book, this time about Kaguya and her two and a half sons (The Sage, his brother and Zetsu). 

Oh well, I would think about it later. Right now I needed to focus on cooking and stopping Kakashi from unleashing his puppy eyes at me because I wouldn’t give him the salted squid stick he wanted. 

* * *

I unleashed my campaign to make Orochimaru accept us. I came knocking on his doors everyday for the whole week, with meals in hand. He didn’t open the door on the second day, so I sat on the front door and talked loudly to Kakashi about how ‘we are hungry but we were still waiting for Orochimaru-san to come back home’. Orochimaru opened his door a few minutes after that. 

I asked for a key. He refused. But he continued to open his door everyday. So I guessed it was fine. Then by day six, Kakashi asked Orochimaru to come and play at our house. My baby already felt at ease with Orochimaru already. And that day Orochimaru actually took Kakashi out from the hut and taught him a simple water Jutsu to water the vegetation around his hut. 

My husband wasn’t happy when he was back and saw we were having lunch with Orochimaru. I pouted and ordered him to clean up first, he looked so tired and dirty from his mission. Sakumo looked hurt when I did that, so I apologised to Orochimaru and asked Kakashi to accompany Orochimaru while I took care of Sakumo. 

Sakumo growled when I entered the bathroom with him. I tried to soothe him, softly wiping his face with a clean towel. Whispering sweet nothings and ensuring Orochimaru’s safe presence in our house. I explained again and again I was just showing him my gratitude. Because without Orochimaru, I wouldn’t be alive. 

When Sakumo allowed me to steal a chaste kiss, I felt relieved. He seemed to accept my apology. I told him we could have lunch together, but when I came out, Kakashi told us Orochimaru had taken his leave. I wanted to weep in frustration. 

Damn men and their fragile egos. 

I kept cooking for Orochimaru and brought it to his hut the next day. I asked Sakumo to come with me, as he was already refreshed from a good night's sleep (no sex, despite my body wanting to have Sakumo between my legs). I told him to be polite. Luckily Orochimaru still opened the door and let us in. Sakumo held true to his promise and he was polite for the whole lunch. Orochimaru and I spend the afternoon watching Sakumo teaching Kakashi some katas. Orochimaru didn’t talk much, but he seemed to be comfortable joining me watching them. When Kakashi asked Sakumo and Orochimaru to spar, I almost wanted to say no. But apparently both of them were interested, so they ended up sparing as requested. 

The spar shocked me. I didn’t really have first-hand knowledge about real shinobi spar, after all the most I had seen was Kakashi’s training and kids trying to outdo each other. Watching Sakumo and Orochimaru exchanging lightning-quick blows of taijutsu and their swords made me feel awe and scared at the same time. These were real shinobi, two killing machines. They weren’t just imagination anymore. Their blows left bruises and their swords caused real bleeding scars. Their blows, even only for a spar, caused destruction around them. They even asked Kakashi and me to move further before they started. 

Their killing intents were palpable in the air, and it suffocated me. 

I felt small and arrogant. Who was I to try and shape their fate? 

I was so arrogant to come and disturb Orochimaru as if I was a salesman. That man could kill me in a heartbeat. He could kill Kakashi too. I was so arrogant to think he wouldn’t. 

I was so confident I could help Sakumo. But looking at how strong he really was, could I do it, really? If Sakumo had a nightmare, could I actually calm him down? Would he have ended up killing me in an unconscious reflex instead? 

My son, Kakashi, would be like this. He wouldn’t be a cute puppy all the time. He would grow up to match Sakumo and Orochimaru. Could I accept it?

_The memory of pain came back. I was stabbed, and the pain was so immense. I fear pain. I didn’t want to be stabbed again. A knife protruded from my belly. I didn’t want to die._

Fear overcame me and shook my whole body. I felt weak at this revelation. My chest thumped loudly in my ears. I tried to stop myself by hiding my face in my palms, but the shaking wouldn’t stop. This anxiety paralyzed me. The phantom pain in my stomach became more painful. I hadn’t felt like this since my last report meeting with my worst client. My body suddenly gave up. I couldn’t breathe. I lost consciousness for a moment, just to be awakened by my son calling me frantically. 

“Kaa-chan! Kaa-chan!” 

I blinked and saw my son’s worried face from a weird angle. Apparently I had fainted forward and curled into myself. “Ka..kashi?”

“Kaori!” a voice called me too. I found myself being pulled up into the embrace of strong, sweaty arms. “Kaori, are you alright!?” 

“Let me see her,” another voice called out too. I tried to answer but my whole body was still weak. I didn’t like being weak.

“N..No. I am fi..ne. Sorry.” I stuttered, trying to raise up, but my head was spinning from lack of oxygen. I tried to breathe slowly, normally. I should control my own body. I could control my own body. I would control my own body. 

I was fine. 

I was fine. 

_I was fine, damn it!_

Slowly I regained control of my own body and relaxed. I managed to sit down properly and saw three worried faces. I grimaced. “Sorry about that, … I didn’t feel good. But I am better now.”

“Let me check,” Orochimaru asked for my hand, which I gave. His surprisingly smooth and cold fingers caught my wrist to check. “... Your heart rate is too quick. Do you feel pain anywhere?” 

I shook my head. “I feel fine now. I promise. I just suddenly felt light-headed, that’s all. I… I will be fine, I just need a little bit of rest.” 

I reassured them I was fine and was ready to head back for a bit of rest. We ended up leaving quickly after, after I assured Orochimaru he was still welcomed to join us for lunch the next day. It was embarrassing for me to break down like that in front of the people I was supposed to support. A mixture of painful trauma and revelation had me down. It was a moment of weakness I didn’t want to repeat. 

Sakumo and Kakashi were tiptoeing around me for the rest of the day. I assured them multiple times I was fine, it was just a small relapse. Actually it was a panic attack, but I didn’t want them to ask why I had a panic attack, so I lied. They didn’t seem to believe me though. Sakumo encouraged me to go to the hospital for a check-up, but since I have a scheduled check-up in two days, I decided to wait. 

Since Kakashi decided to be clingy and refused to let me go, we went to bed together that night. He snuggled into my arms before Sakumo slipped in behind Kakashi and covered us with blankets. Kakashi didn’t ask for a story that night, which I was kind of grateful for as I wanted to quickly rest. Sakumo put his arms around Kakashi and me, then turned off the light. 

It was a bad night for me. I knew Sakumo was aware I didn’t catch much sleep. But my Hubby didn’t ask why, so I kept my silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaori realised managing the Shinobi business is not easy. Also, she has leftover trauma from being stabbed. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	9. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Danzo. And Fluff. And a guest star.

It was eye opening, really. 

I realised how small I was -- I came into this Narutoverse underestimating the whole thing, expecting it to be easy. I was caught in the Third POV trap, whereas an audience, I knew everything. As an observant, I just followed the storyline and watched as each character did what they did, creating problems and dilemmas and also heroic sequences. I never thought I was a part of the inside. I felt like a God of some sort--I was able to share stories and guided some characters to a better “decision”. 

Now I have seen the reality of a shinobi life, it made me wonder, how much could I separate between being a third observer and an active participant. For them and me, this was reality. It wasn’t some anime or manga for casual consumption. I was living in it, and anything I did would come with repercussions. If I wanted to save Sakumo and Kakashi, what would be the consequences? Would I die? Would I be ready to do everything -- including being killed or tortured or kidnapped? And in this world, the pain was real. As real as the pain of being stabbed. 

What would I give to achieve Sakumo and Kakashi’s happiness? 

What would their happiness be anyway? 

But the most important thing was what should I do? I needed insurance of some sort. 

* * *

I woke up to a little boy on my chest. 

My baby was very adorable, even before he woke up. His messy fluffy bed hair tickled my neck, his palms grabbed my chests. His whole body locked me down onto the bed, refusing to let me go without his knowing. He was still asleep though, with his drools decorating my pajama top. 

I turned my head to find my husband’s empty side. He must have woken up. It must be morning already. The soft light already peeking from the curtain. I slowly rubbed Kakashi’s back. 

“Pup, wake up.” 

He sniffled and made cute sounds. I tried again. 

“Kakashi? Kaa-chan needs to wake up and make breakfast.” 

He opened his eyes as I smiled at him. “Morning, pup. Let’s get up?” 

Kakashi shook his head and closed it back, digging further into my body and pulled the blanket around us. I huffed. 

“Kakashi, Kaa-chan will count to three, alright? One…” 

Kakashi made a dying baby seal sound. 

“Two…”

He moaned and pulled the blanket around us even further. 

“Three!” I squealed in delight, then tickled his sides. Kakashi shrieked with laughter (my baby was so sensitive), trying to avoid my tickling fingers while I kept tickling him until he begged my forgiveness. The blanket pooled around us, while the room was filled with laughter. 

“Sorry.. Kaa-chan! Stop!” 

“Hmm.” I hummed with satisfaction before pulling him into my embrace. “Let’s get up and have some breakfast yeah?” 

I pulled my boy (he was getting heavier each day. I wondered if it was because he was growing or because I needed more exercise) and wondered to the kitchen. I saw my Hubby in front of the stove, looking cute with my apron on him. 

“Good morning,” I smiled and put Kakashi down, before pulling him into a morning kiss. “You’ve made breakfast?”

“Yes. You need more rest. How are you feeling today?” Sakumo asked. 

I gave him my best smile. “I feel much better today. Thank you for making breakfast and sorry for making you worry.” 

Sakumo smiled at me, then ordered me and Kakashi to wash ourselves. I decided to let Kakashi get under the shower with me (I needed a quick wash to wake myself up) and cleaned up. I let him choose his clothes, long pants and mini-sized turtle neck, like his father. 

My husband looked relieved when he saw us eating his cooking (well, Kakashi was right, Sakumo couldn’t cook. The food tasted bland--just like mission campsite cookings). My baby looked sad but kept munching. Probably he was used to it because Sakumo would be the one cooking when Kaori was still in the hospital. 

“Will you go for a check-up today?” My husband hummed while drinking the miso soup. 

I sighed. “I am fine, Hubby. It won’t happen again, I promise.” 

“Please? Just a simple check-up.” 

“I have an appointment tomorrow, is it alright?” I begged him with puppy eyes I learned from Kakashi. Maybe it looked bad on me. But Sakumo huffed with laughter and choked on his miso. Kakashi helped him thump his back while I laughed out loud--my baby was awesome like that. 

“I have taken today and tomorrow off,” Sakumo mentioned while we were washing the dishes. “Let’s have a picnic or something? Or I can help with the project. I still remember things I learned from my D-ranks tasks back then.” 

“You don’t need to…” I shrugged. But his concern touched me. It showed how much he cared for me. I caught his grey eyes looking at me closely. 

“I want to spend more time with you. And Kakashi, too.” he murmured. His intense eyes made me blush. I quickly dried my hand and took his hand to squeeze it gently to show my appreciation. I felt a bit breathless while my chest thumped so hard. He watched me closely, his small smile looked so vulnerable but he kept it on me while he kissed my wet knuckles. 

“Please?” 

“...you are such a tease,” I whispered breathlessly and stole a kiss. He tasted like breakfast and himself. I couldn’t get enough. His body was so warm, my hand slipped onto his chest and then his neck. 

“Eww.” Kakashi moaned and pushed me away from Sakumo’s body. “No kissing! We have so much stuff to do! Oro-san is waiting!” 

I laughed while hiding my red face from them. Apparently Orochimaru has waved himself into Kakashi’s favourite person, especially after Orochimaru agreed to train him with simple jutsus and taijutsu. Nevertheless, our family was getting bigger. It felt so warm, I couldn’t help but wish this never ends. How could this feeling be unreal? Reality or not, this was something I wanted to always keep for myself. 

I loved them so much. Everything else didn’t matter. 

* * *

We walked together, three of us, toward Orochimaru’s hut. It has become a habit for me and Kakashi, and we already knew which way to go, which steps to take, which hole to avoid, the stray cats we met. Kakashi excitedly showed Sakumo all of them, while I enjoyed the sunshine on my face. It was such a good day. 

But it all went down when we saw Orochimaru, standing in front of the closed door of his hut, with a man standing in front of him, giving out a menacing aura. 

“Who is he?” I asked Sakumo. 

“It’s one of the elders, Danzo-sama.” My husband answered, but his voice showed his dislike of the man which I noted with curiosity. Sakumo’s hand on my hip tightened while he also pulled Kakashi from going towards Orochimaru. 

I ignored Sakumo’s hand on my hip and walked forward instead. Regardless of how weak I was compared to shinobi, I knew Orochimaru was vulnerable to Danzo's manipulation. I wouldn't let him be a child killer, when Orochimaru could be such a wonderful mother to Mitsuki. 

“... Continue the experiments you want and no one would look down at you. Just think about it, Orochimaru-kun. For Konoha.” Danzo said before he turned to me. “...You seem to have other visitors.”

Orochimaru looked at us. His face looked like a lost child, unsure what to say, making me want to hug him close and bundling him in thick blankets, then hid him in my room. Poor kid looked confused but then he realised it was me. The slight relief and shame on his face made me want to hug him more. 

Before Orochimaru could say anything, I cut politely and bowed properly. “Danzo-sama.” 

He nodded slightly at me. 

“Hatake Kaori, at your service.” I introduced myself. “I am sorry to interrupt your conversation with Orochimaru-san, but we have an appointment with him. May I humbly ask to spare him from your discussion until later, please?” 

He stared at me. I stared back at him. I wished for a second that I had legilimency so that I could see what he was thinking. I could also see his strong will and pride, shown clearly in the harsh lines and strict expression. I could feel his displeasure on me, but since there were too many witnesses, he could do little to bring me down. 

I felt like I was facing my hardest client yet. 

“We are still talking here.” he answered haughtily. “Surely you can wait?”

“Unfortunately Orochimaru-san has a previous appointment with us and we are almost late.” I smiled politely. “Is there anything else, Danzo-sama?” 

We stared at each other until he finally turned to Orochimaru. “Just think about it, Orochimaru-kun.” and then shunsin-ed, ignoring me. He was trying to snub me as if I wasn’t there. But jokes on him since I have achieved my goal, I have saved Orochimaru from the uncomfortable discussion with Danzo. I guessed Danzo was trying to recruit Orochimaru to his cause--and started those inhumane experiments. 

Damn, I needed to do something with Danzo. Probably soon. A negotiation, perhaps. He was the reason behind my husband’s failed mission, which caused my husband’s suicide. 

“Kaori, are you crazy?” Sakumo was suddenly standing behind me, pulling me to face him. “That was reckless of you!” 

“I won’t let anyone intimidate my family.” I easily answered and patted his cheek. “Don’t worry about me, Hubby. Anyway, are you alright, Orochimaru-san?” 

Orochimaru still looked lost and so young. I just realised he was the same age as my husband and I, but he looked more youthful than us. 

“Well, aren’t you going to open the door for us? My husband is also coming today if you don’t mind?” 

That brought Orochimaru back to the current moment and he huffed. I caught a hint of a smile when he turned and opened the door of the hut for us. It felt symbolic of how Orochimaru didn’t accept Danzo into the house, not even opening the door for the man. But he let us in and I felt accomplished. Maybe I was crazy to approach a dangerous Legendary Shinobi who could kill me 50 ways in 1 second. But I was happy that I managed to connect with him as a human too. 

I shushed my husband’s concern and pushed Kakashi in. As per habit, I put the bento box on the table and opened them. Sakumo huffed and sat beside Kakashi, helping me with the bento box. I tilted my head to Orochimaru, asking for hot water as per usual. 

He turned to the kitchen. I signed to my husband that I would help Orochimaru, then walked towards him. 

“Are you alright?” I asked softly. I saw his hand tremors a bit when putting the kettle on the stove. 

“...It’s fine, Hatake-san.”

“Please call me Kaori. We are family after all.”

“...You did say that, but we are not..”

“Do you not want to join us, Orochimaru-san? You see, you already eat with us everyday, you teach Kakashi, you saved me. So you are practically family.” 

“You can’t keep using that reasoning to pull me into your crazy scheme.” he sighed. But I knew he was happy, I could see a hint of blush on his cheeks. 

“Oh you'll see that I can and I will.” I replied cheekily, “Especially since you will move into our compound.”

“...Why should I?”

“Because I don’t want strange men to approach you like just now. You’re too pretty for your own good, Orochimaru-san.”

He turned to me looking amused but I could see hints of vulnerability. I was dangling a carrot in front of his mule. He didn’t want to disappoint himself if I failed to deliver my promise. But I believed in my project management skill as I always delivered what I promised. 

So I smiled and hugged him, just as I wanted to since I saw him with Danzo. His soft hair and faint mix of traditional medicine with a hint of jasmine scent filled my nostril. His body was colder and thinner than Sakumo. He was only a few inches taller than me (unlike Sakumo who was a head and shoulder taller), so it was easier for me to cup his head onto my shoulder. 

“You are safe now, Orochimaru-san. You don’t need to follow his orders if you don’t want to.” 

I slowly let him go when he didn’t hug me back (usually Sakumo or Kakashi hugged me back), but then his arms weakly grabbed the back of my top. I smiled and pulled away. 

“Feeling better?” I asked. 

He nodded. The kettle shouted and I turned it off, then poured it into the small teapot Orochimaru brought for us the third day. 

“Yes. Thank you, Kaori-san.” 

I smiled and dragged him by his arm back into the dining room. My husband looked at me with silent questions, so I winked at him and took the seat just across him, then poured the tea for all of us. We quickly returned to our cheerful atmosphere, with Kakashi fighting his father for the last piece of miso eggplant. I was proud of Kakashi as he didn’t like eggplant before, but my baby bravely tried the miso eggplant, which now has become his favourite food. 

I would try tomatoes next.

I started the conversation about my project of building a new boarding house for shinobi. Sakumo and Orochimaru added on it and soon it became a discussion on building development and management. I hinted to Kakashi that he would be the head of security for the apartment, which he took with pride. Orochimaru offered to help me with the building blueprints detail, while Sakumo decided to start building tomorrow and probably get a small chuunin team to help. I told the pretty Snake Sannin to come to our place tomorrow so we could work right after lunch. 

With the plan set, I decided tomorrow would be a great day. 

* * *

On the side note, that day was the first time Orochimaru accepted leftover food we had for himself--he accepted the food I put nicely into a bowl wrapped in clothes and was immediately put inside the fridge. 

I counted them as a success. 

And I wondered what Orochimaru’s job actually was. He was definitely a shinobi--and he must have missions. But compared to my husband who was out of the village most days of the week, Orochimaru had been inside the village for the whole time I badgered him with meals--and always at home too. Was it a self-imposed solitude? 

I needed to ask him that. Probably the next time I had any chance. 

* * *

When we asked Kakashi what he wanted to do for the rest of the day, Kakashi boldly stated he wanted to go to the Park. I kind of understand why. We haven’t been to the park as much lately, with the chasing of Orochimaru and Kakashi training with him. Despite my baby’s genius and strong will to learn, he was a kid after all, and he wanted to play--also it was such a rare thing to have Sakumo with us, and Kakashi couldn’t wait to brag to his friends. 

True to my expectation, Sakumo was such a hit in the playground, with Kakashi hanging from his arms, stating ‘this is my father, now you can worship me, mere mortals!’ with as much elegance a kid could muster--which was not very much. Sakumo, bless my husband, was very good with children. I guessed the canon was somewhat right--Sakumo was very good with children, but not very good at prioritizing or handling his feelings. The kids loved him--especially when he joined them for play--he became it and the children scampered to hide. My husband looked adorable when he tried to pretend that he couldn’t get them all at once, but he slowly looked around until everyone surrendered. Except for Kakashi who hid right behind me, and Sakumo allowed him to be the last to be found, like how he always spoils Kakashi. 

By the end of the play, everyone was more than a little starry-eyed on Sakumo--Little Obito looked like he had seen a shining idol--and I treated all of them with sweet mochis I bought from the vendor next to the park. Kakashi and Sakumo got little squids on skewers instead, because they both liked salty things. After the little snacks, the kids dispersed and returned home, leaving the orphans--Obito and Gai, so we took them with us for a little dinner at the family restaurant. 

I knew I read so many times and watched so many episodes about Kakashi and how cold he was--how awkward he was as a human and how perfect he was as a killing tool. I couldn’t find that Kakashi on my son right now, not with the smile he was displaying freely to his friends. They were discussing so seriously amongst themselves about whether Orochimaru was stronger than my Sakumo. I could only chuckle and let them, meanwhile spoiling myself by leaning my body onto my husband’s. We were seated on one side of the table and the kids the other side, I sat beside my husband just a tad too close for the public. My husband let me and his arms around my waist just secured my body against his. 

“Please be careful next time, Wife.” he whispered to me, just a tad too close to my ear. Damn, my husband was a very seductive man. But he also chastised me. “It’s not wise to antagonise an Elder like that.” 

“Hmmm.” I decided to not agree or disagree with that. I knew I would be targeting Danzo next. But I knew my limit, and I would make some insurance first before I faced the dragon. 

“I am serious. You are not allowed to danger yourself. We need you.” 

I blinked. “Why do you say that?” 

He looked at me with helpless fondness. “Kaori, Elders are not as harmless as kids, you know. I still don’t understand and don’t even know how you rope Orochimaru into lunches.”

“Ah, not that. I mean… you said you … need me?” I blushed. I felt like I was fishing for compliments. But well, I was actually fishing for compliments, wasn’t I? I wanted my husband to elaborate on how he liked me--well, no one would refuse to hear the affirmations that they were being loved, would they? 

He blinked and looked even more fond. “You really need me to spell that out?” 

“Yes, please. Please tell me you need me. I love having affirmation on that. I can exchange the same reasons with you if you’d like.”

“Kaori, my beautiful wife,” he started (I ignored the beautiful-- beauty was on the eye of the beholder, and I found I was nothing like the standard of beauty in Narutoverse), “You welcome me with meals every morning, making me want to open my eyes and faced the day. You take care of our son until he is able to act like a kid he was. You accept the broken me without expecting differently. You are a bit crazy and quirky, but I like that about you too. You are our anchor, my love. Please don’t ever forget that.” 

I melted. “Oh. you’re so done tonight.” I whispered while licking my lips. 

“There are children present, you know.” Sakumo chuckled darkly, but he caught my hand under the table and squeezed them. The little circles he made next on my skin promised me he would be happy to receive me that night. 

“You are amazing too, Hubby.” I whispered back. “Watching you with the kids this afternoon made me feel what a perfect man you are. Kind, strong, child-friendly, and always supportive. Not to mention I have the most handsome man in the world as my husband. No matter what you think, you always make Kakashi and I proud. We always want you on our side, so please keep coming back to me, husband. We need you too.” 

“...Ah. I… noted.” he flushed a bit and I squeezed his thigh instead. 

“...Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, please don’t embarrass me here.” Kakashi’s deadpan voice cut us short. We both blushed and faced our son, who looked like he was  _ done _ with us. Beside him, Obito and Gai were watching us like we were fascinating to them. I coughed my embarrassment away and pulled from Sakumo’s lap--I didn’t realise I have been moving slowly onto Sakumo’s lap--and the food came, so I could focus on distributing the food instead. 

To change the conversation into something else, I started to question our little guests about themselves. I found that even though Obito was supposed to be living with his grandmother, his grandmother was often unavailable because of sickness and left Obito to fend himself. Also apparently he had a new little brother named Shisui, another Uchiha orphan that was assigned to his grandmother just a few days ago. The little boy’s parents went for a mission they never came back from. I told him to bring Shisui along next time, and of course, he could stay over at our home. Obito’s eyes were round with wonder, while Kakashi silently pleased with himself (I could read my boy alright) because he got a friend to stay over. 

Gai was another shy but bright child. He has not grown into his youthful speech pattern as yet, and he was living with his Uncle’s family. I could see that he was not received that well by the family, judging on his dirty clothes and shy, but mostly cautious actions. He looked at us and assessed whether he could actually receive our offer of anything before accepting or rejecting it. Such things were trained, not a kid’s nature. 

I extended the offer for sleeping over to him as well, and he flushed before he nodded shyly. 

I was very glad the kids could join us. Now, I felt Kakashi would have at least a safety net if anything happened to me or Sakumo. I was a selfish woman and I wanted the best for my baby. 

* * *

“Can I put a baby in you?” Sakumo whispered while he bent over me, my back and neck opened for him to enjoy. His hips repeatedly thrust in, pushing me with a force that I couldn't help but grab the sheet just to anchor myself. His heavy breathing matched my soft moans, and his left hand fondling my breast and nipple. 

I unconsciously moaned. “Yes!” 

He groaned and bit my neck, like a claiming bite. It was painful but arousing as well, and I touched his hand on my breast and squeezed. I could feel him coming inside so I squeezed my wall to milk him dry. 

He groaned and down onto my body. Sakumo was very heavy, mind you, so I flopped onto the bed underneath. I hadn’t caught my orgasm as yet--but I have been coming two times for the past hour, so I guessed It was fine. My inner felt drenched with his seed, yet as usual, I didn’t want to clean it until I needed to in the morning shower.

“Tomorrow… my check-up. Come with me.” I said between my breath. Sakumo nodded. “Uhm, move, Hubby. You are heavy.” 

Sakumo chuckled and turned, bringing my body with him. I adjusted my body so that I was half on top of him, half burying myself beside him. His hand made circles on my shoulder and our sweaty, but hot skin kept us warm. My hair covered us, and I wondered whether I should cut my hair a bit shorter for practical reasons when suddenly my husband spoke. 

“I… have something to confess,” Sakumo said. I turned in interest, sleepiness gone. 

“What is it?” 

“...I kind of jealous how you and Kakashi replace me with Orochimaru.” 

“What.” My voice was flat. “Don’t be stupid.” 

Sakumo huffed. 

“You are my only one, you know that right?” I pleaded, with a teasing smile on my lips. “Hmm?”

“Well, I came back home and you had a meal with him, how could I not be jealous?” 

“Uhh… I was just trying to … well, I was thankful for him. Because he gave me more time to have you. To have Kakashi. To have this.” I whispered and gently played with my husband’s chest hair. “Then I see how lonely he was and I guess… It's like adopting a stray. Kakashi likes him and he teaches Kakashi some stuff, so I guess… it is fine. Also, I feel he is like a pretty sister I want to have.” 

Sakumo snorted loudly and I smacked on his chest. “Sister?”

“Hey!” I laughed with him and moved to kiss his jaw. “Orochimaru  _ is  _ beautiful, you know.”

“Hmmm.” 

“... You are the only one I will allow to put a baby in me, Sakumo.” 

“...Are you up for another round?”

I forced myself up and adjusted my position, facing his half limp dick. My fingers circled around his, while I slowly licked the head. He moaned, and slowly his cock filled again in my hand. 

And that was the start of another round. 

* * *

We both woke up late. 

Kakashi was not pleased and he showed it by jumping on us in the morning. He slipped in between us despite our groans, deciding he wanted to sleep in too and joined us. 

We all woke up an hour late, and it was only an hour before my check-up. 

With rushed breakfast and clean up, we were out of the house by forty-five minutes and Sakumo decided to shunshin us with him to the hospital. I didn’t like the experience, it made me dizzy and queasy, but my son loved it and begged his father to teach him. Sakumo commented it was an A-rank jutsu, so Kakashi still needed to grow more before he could learn it. 

The whole family sat in the medic-nin room, and Yui-sensei smiled when she saw us. 

“Full house today?” she joked and corrected her glasses. “Well, shall we start?” 

The check-up went fine until Yui-sensei scanned my stomach. She stopped by my abdomen and blinked. 

“What is it, Yui-sensei?” I asked. 

“.... I will need to collect some urine and blood samples from you, Kaori-san.” 

I nodded and went to change back my clothes, then accepted the small jar provided by the nurse and went to the toilet. When I returned, I passed on the jar while my husband explained what happened the other day when I fainted--well, it was actually because I had a panic attack, but I couldn’t tell anyone so I pretended it was just a fainting moment. 

“I don’t see anything wrong with your checkup today, but I will see what the blood test result will be. In the meantime, as usual, please get some rest, light exercise, and eat properly. Also, I am giving you some vitamins, and no alcohol for the next month or so until I am sure, alright?”

I nodded easily as I didn’t really consume alcohol in this world. I had no friends to drink with and my Hubby loved tea better. Yui-sensei then sent us home with the assurance that everything was fine with me, and no, Kakashi, your Kaa-chan wouldn’t be sick again. 

* * *

While we waited for Orochimaru to come, I raided my fridge and cooked lunch. Kakashi, who was my assistant chef, already started washing the rice. Sakumo hovered, wasn’t sure of what to do, so I told him to cut the meat and potatoes. We were going to eat curry that day. 

When the meal was ready, there was knocking on the door. My husband went to the door to receive our guest and judging from a few leaves on the floor, Orochimaru sunshin-ed right onto our porch. I blinked when I saw Orochimaru, though. He has a small infant with huge eyes, brown thick hair, and an expressionless face in his arms. 

“...This is Kinoe, my ...son?”

The statement felt like a question mark as if Orochimaru wasn’t sure what the child was supposed to be for him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And bby Yamato is here! :D All the love~


	10. Kinoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Kinoe, Jiraiya and a sharing lesson.

I was not expecting this. 

Orochimaru stood by the door, with the little infant that suspiciously looked like baby Yamato. Orochimaru called him Kinoe, which was Yamato’s name before he was rescued from the lab. The infant didn’t move, but his huge eyes watched us like an owl. I wondered whether he could turn his head like one. 

He  _ did _ and I almost screamed. But Orochimaru gently moved his little head back. 

“My apologies for bringing him here. But I cannot leave him alone for too long.” In essence, Orochimaru has no one to nanny the baby. 

“...It’s alright, Orochimaru-san. Welcome.” I smiled. “How old is he? We are having curry today, but I think we can make some fruit mash for him to enjoy if it’s too spicy.”

My husband looked at me as if I have grown a second head. Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Three, has a secret child? It was mind boggling. My husband looked like he couldn’t believe his eyes and he couldn't believe my nonchalant attitude about it. 

I winked at him and gestured to Orochimaru to come in and have a seat in his usual seat--the one beside Kakashi. Kakashi, already seated, watched the baby in Orochimaru’s arms with obvious curiosity. 

“Who is he, Oro-san?” he asked. 

“His name is Kinoe.” Orochimaru answered. The infant knew his name, as he turned when his name was called. His unblinking eyes stared at my son’s face. It was kind of funny and adorable at the same time. I turned to Sakumo and he shrugged with amusement. 

“He is weird.” Kakashi stated matter-of-factly. “He doesn’t look like you.” 

Oh. My son has the tact of a five years old. Well. He  _ was _ five years old. Damn. I forget how stunted his EQ was. My son really needed to learn some tact. “Kakashi…!” 

“He is adopted…?” Orochimaru answered again, this time with much more uncertainties. 

“Why?” Kakashi asked again, this time with a slightly more interest. 

“I found him alone when I was back from my mission last year. He was hurt and almost died. I… I took care of him.” 

Oh. I knew Yamato was the only survivor from Orochimaru’s experiments. I wasn’t aware that Yamato was the first one he experimented on. And I wasn’t aware of their background. Yamato wasn’t kidnapped--probably he was the reason Orochimaru started his mokuten cell research. And with Danzo’s enabling Orochimaru for further research, it got out of hand. I wondered how Orochimaru got Hashirama’s cell though. 

Kakashi didn’t answer, but his hand patted Yamato’s hair, just like Sakumo and I did to him if he was with good behaviour. The infant blinked for the first time and smiled sheepishly. 

So adorable. 

We started eating afterwards, with Orochimaru accepting my offer to hold Kinoe while he ate. I got the small baby in my arms, almost squeezing him too tight. So cute, adorable, and so squishy. I loved him already. I tried to give him some fruit mash, which ended up mostly on my lap and his clothes, but Yamato looked like he enjoyed it and asked for more judging from his flailing arms. 

After lunch, we started on our projects--Orochimaru, Sakumo and I sat on the table, discussing on blueprints and planning, while Kakashi sat doing his writing exercise (he has atrocious handwriting that needed to be improved) and Kinoe was put on the sofa for a little nap after diaper change. Kakashi seemed like staring at the little infant too long instead of focusing on his writing exercise, but maybe it was because of his curiosity. He seldom saw children smaller than himself. All his friends were rather older or bigger than him. Kinoe himself looked impressed with the new big kid, asking to be kept near Kakashi till he slept. The infant didn’t cry even once, which made Sakumo confused (he still remembered how much Kakashi cried when he was two) but Orochimaru looked like it was normal. 

On the other hand, I was happy with our progress. I could start searching for genin or chuunin teams to help tomorrow. We planned to start on the one house next to our own home, making it sort of a small apartment building fitted for a boarding house. There would be three levels, the first one for open space mesh (for one-night only guests) with communal bathrooms. The second and third would be filled with individual rooms for longer stay use, with individual en-suite small bathroom. Kitchen and dining area would be communal on the first floor. Every room would have their own privacy seals, which could be set based on request -- the higher, the more expensive it would be. I knew shinobi preferred confidentiality over comfort, so I was planning to bag on that. 

Before Orochimaru left, he actually asked me to help him to look after Kinoe sometimes. Apparently he has been stalling his missions by taking the role of main scientists of the Village. But recently the Hokage started asking him to continue his solo missions as one of the best Jounin in the Village, especially since the tension between villages was getting tenser. 

I agreed and promised to take care of Kinoe. That was the last thing I could do for Orochimaru. That was a show of trust from Orochimaru that I would never betray. Hopefully this could also get him to move with us soon, the free childcare. I gave them some sliced fruits as well to be taken home. 

Sakumo sat on the sofa and invited me to sit with them. We sat together watching Kakashi finishing his writings exercising while drinking tea. It was a slow afternoon. We talked about everything and nothing. 

Suddenly a small toad appeared in front of us. I blinked and Kakashi reached out to catch it. 

“Hey Sakumo, I am back! Wanna meet?” the toad said in a weird, male adult voice. 

Sakumo barked out a laugh. The toad looked at him, waiting for an answer. He turned to me. 

“Can I bring home a guest tonight?” 

“Who is it?” I asked, but I guessed who already from the toad summon. 

“Jiraiya.” Sakumo grinned wide. 

“Oh. Alright.” I smiled back. “What does he like? I can try and cook for him. But I guess we need to go to the market to get additional ingredients.”

“Oh, he is basically a cockroach. Hard to kill and eat anything. Just give him what we have.” Sakumo grinned. I huffed, but was happy Sakumo could look like that. He was usually more reserved, so him grinning like a kid was just refreshing. Probably Jiraiya was the only one who could make him feel like a boy again. 

“Alright then, I will cook whatever we have. How about fried udon and fish sound?” I asked fondly and rose from the sofa. “Meanwhile, please help me check Kakashi’s works?”

“Of course. Thank you Kaori.” Sakumo grinned and turned to the toad to invite Jiraiya to our home for dinner. I managed to prepare the whole thing under two hours. I was a bit anxious to receive another Legendary Sannin ith my cooking. But apparently I was anxious for nothing. 

He was just like my anime-version-impression of him. Loud, brash, full of bad jokes but clearly kind and looked like he was loyal to my husband. Kakashi looked like he recognised the man, but he kept some distances between them, prefering to hide behind me. Jiraiya asked me about my condition which affirmed my suspicion that he had been taking care of Kakashi several times before I came. I also noted how he kept a respectable distance from me, as if honoring me as his best-friend’s wife which meant off-limit. I liked how Sakumo seemed to enjoy himself around Jiraiya, with loud laughs and retelling some embarrassing history between them. I let them enjoy their talk with their beers, while I brought kakashi to bed. 

“They are loud. And smelled funny.” Kakashi scowled. I guessed he didn’t like the smell of alcohol. 

“I am sorry, pup. Can you please bear just for tonight? Tou-chan is enjoying himself. It’s hard for them to meet up.”

“Who is he, Kaa-chan?”

“He is Tou-chan's best friend. They… we were year mates.”

“Oh.”

“One day Kakashi will have a best friend just like Tou-chan with Jiraiya-san,” I commented as I kissed my baby’s forehead, “A good friend is like wine-- they get better with age.” 

“... Kaa-chan, how about you? Do you have a best friend?”

“Hmm… I guessed Orochimaru-san?” I shrugged and pulled his blanket. “Now, sweet dream, baby.”

Kakashi nodded and closed his eyes. I gathered his little ninken plushies closer around him. Sakumo told me he would start teaching Kakashi the summoning contract soon. I couldn’t wait to meet Pakkun and the others. 

When I returned to the dining room, Sakumo and Jiraiya both looked nicely buzzed with alcohol. I huffed and made some tea, and then sat beside Sakumo. 

“I am glad you are better, Kaori-san.” Jiraiya smirked. “This man couldn’t keep a decent home life without you helping him.” 

“You can’t either, jiraiya. I still remember you almost burnt my kitchen trying to cook porridge for Kakashi.” 

“Hey! At least I tried! And my campside cooking is better than yours! By the way, dinner was delicious as always, thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” I smiled at him while drinking my tea. 

“Oh, wanna have some alcohol? I brought some good sake from my trip to Kumo.” Jiraya pulled out a scroll and from there he took out a bottle of sake with the Kumo stamp. “They make decent sake over there! Try it.” 

“Ah, sorry.” I apologised. “I am not supposed to drink alcohol right now. Doctor’s order.” 

“Eh…?” Jiraiya looked surprised. “Not even half a year and you are already pregnant again? Sakumo, you  _ dog _ !!!” 

Sakumo threw a piece of crumpled tissue to Jiraiya’s forehead. “Shut up! It’s not!” 

I chuckled. “I am still under observation from my operation with Orochimaru-san, Jiraiya-san.”

Sakumo sighed and pulled me closer, his breath on top of me, smelling like alcohol. It was unpleasant, but I could stand it while enjoying my husband’s warmth. Jiraiya looked surprised for a moment, but not from Sakumo’s gesture. 

“Orochimaru? He operated on you?”

“Yes he did.” I smiled. “He saved me. I am very thankful for it.” 

“... How is he?” Jiraiya looked sad, loing his previous exuberant attitude. 

“He is fine.” Sakumo answered before I did, which made me blink. Did Sakumo not want to talk about our meals with Orochimaru with Jiraiya? “We met him often enough.”

“Oh.” Jiraiya shrugged and poured the sake onto Sakumo’s empty cup and his. “That’s good then, I suppose. I am glad you have recovered now, Kaori-san. Sakumo was such a mess.” 

I hummed and wanted to ask for more, but Sakumo looked down so I stopped myself. The conversation slowed for a bit, so I guessed it was my cue to leave them alone. I excused myself to clean up and took a bath. Sakumo told me they would be going out for a bit, probably continuing drinking in one of the bars that opened till late. I didn’t like that my husband would leave me the night before he took another mission, yet since it was a rarity for them to be able to meet with their individuals busy schedules, I guessed it was fine. 

I wrote a bit before giving up and went to bed. A kiss on my forehead woke me up, as my husband slipped into our bed with faint soap scent and warm skin. 

“Thank you for the dinner.” he whispered sleepily. I smiled and kissed his nose. 

“It’s alright. You have Jiraiya-san and I have Oro-san. Maybe we should invite Tsunade-hime next.” 

Sakumo huffed and pulled me closer. We quickly went to sleep afterward. 

* * *

True to my dismay, Sakumo got his next mission after he finished supervising Kakashi his morning katas. This time it would be a two-weeks A rank tracking mission. Apparently Orochimaru would be his team mates as well, alongside one other ANBU. With that kind of formation, I believed it would be a very dangerous mission. I almost refused to let Sakumo go, but he assured me it should be fine. 

Orochimaru came to our door with Kinoe in his arms and a bag of baby supplies. I took the little infant from his hand and wished them a safe trip and good luck. Sakumo kissed me before they sunshin-ed. The little baby in my arm looked like he was ready to cry with his parent figure gone, so I spent the morning trying to cheer him up with mashed banana and sweet milk. Kinoe was an adorable but slightly cranky baby. Although I have experience from taking care of some kids (I used to babysit for my neighbours for pocket money), I was not very experienced in taking care of kids smaller than 4 years old. In the end, I tried to sing for him, which slowly made him sleepy and not so agitated with his new environment. 

Kakashi watched me as I paid my attention to Kinoe. When I finally got Kinoe for a nap on my bed, I found Kakashi sitting alone on his bed with a huge pout. 

“Kakashi, why are you pouting?” 

He refused to talk to me. Instead, he hid himself under the blanket, as if refusing to see me. I was kind of stunned. Kakashi never behaved like that. Was there something wrong? 

I sat on the side of his bed, patting the blanket cocoon that hid my son. 

“Kakashi, is there anything you want to talk about with Kaa-chan?”

The blanket stayed silent. 

I started to guess what happened. Sakumo just left this morning and that made Kakashi lonely. Usually he had me to distract him from his loneliness, but now with Kinoe here, I was not able to give my full attention to him, so he felt lonely. The first child syndrome. My baby felt cranky and he hid from me. 

I definitely didn't want to make my baby feel lonely. But this might be a good teaching moment for my son. And also a good distraction for me, as I couldn’t help but worry about my husband and Orochimaru. The mission sounded bad. I hoped it was not Danzo’s order. 

“Right. If Kakashi decides you are ready to talk to Kaa-chan, I will be in the kitchen preparing lunch.” 

I let him stew on his angst while preparing for lunch. I only had fish left, so I grilled them and cooked some rice. The house was so silent. Usually Kakashi helped me cook, and it made me a bit lonely too without my little assistant chef. Yet this moment was the perfect moment for Kakashi to learn to share. Especially if Sakumo and I decide to have another kid. And it seemed Kinoe would be staying as well, and I already wanted to keep him as mine, although I knew Orochimaru would fight me on that. But Kinoe could have two mothers anyway, right? 

When I put the dishes on the table, Kakashi came out from his room, looking forlorn. I saw his eyes were red. My baby must have cried. 

I smiled sadly at him. 

“Come here, pup.” 

He followed my order and came to me. I sat down onto the floor, hugging him. He hid his face on my shoulder, but made no move to hug me back. 

“Are you ready to talk to Kaa-chan?” I asked. 

“... Kaa-chan is mine.” Kakashi cracked. “Not Kinoe’s.” 

“Yes, pup. I am your mother.” I answered and patted his head softly. “I am not Kinoe’s mother. But Kinoe is an orphan. He only has Oro-san, and Oro-san is not here. Kinoe is smaller than you, Kakashi. He needs us to care for him. Do you hate him?”

Kakashi didn’t reply for a moment, before shaking his head. I pushed him from my embrace so I could see his face. 

“Then please tell Kaa-chan why you cry?” 

“... Kaa-chan only likes Kinoe. You don’t love me anymore.” 

“Oh baby.” I shook my head. “No, of course not. I love you, you are my son, my baby. You are everything to me. I love you, don’t you forget that.” 

Kakashi started to sob, then reached out for me. I hugged him while his little body trembled from crying. 

“Pup, I love you. I love your father. Do you think because I love you, then I cannot love your father? Or, let me ask you the reverse. Do you love me?” 

Kakashi immediately nodded while still hiding his face on my shoulder. 

“Do you love Tou-chan?”

My baby nodded again, this time slower. 

“With your logic, Kakashi can only love Kaa-chan, or Kakashi can only love Tou-chan. But you cannot love us both. Which one do you prefer, then? Tou-chan or me?” 

Kakashi let me go. He stared at me for a long time before answering timidly, “... I don’t know. I love you both. I don’t want to choose.” 

“Then, let me tell you another secret,” I kissed his forehead. “Love is not limited. Loving one person  _ more _ doesn’t mean you need to love another person  _ less _ . Kaa-chan loves Kakashi just as much as Kaa-chan loves Tou-chan. I can also love Oro-san and Kinoe-chan. My love is not finite. The more you shares love, the more Kakashi will get. 

You are almost five, you make me very proud of you, with your learning and growth. On the other hand, Kinoe is still a baby. He still needs a lot of our help. He cannot feed himself like Kakashi can, he cannot bathe himself, or put on clothes or change his own diaper. Kinoe needs Kaa-chan to help him do that. Orochimaru -san is not here to take care of Kinoe, and he trusts us to help him. So, can Kakashi understand and help me help Kinoe?” 

My son pouted, but at least he has stopped crying. I could sense he already got my message, but his little man’s pride couldn’t accept that he has been jealous of a baby, which made him act like a baby too, i.e. crying. 

I pulled him up and we sat on the sofa, my baby on my lap. We sat in silence, me waiting for Kakashi to reply first. I have assured him of my love, but he needed to take the first step to grow. He needed to understand and accept that he would need to share me with other kids, that my love for him would never diminish because my attention was not paid fully for him. Being the first child hurt, and I truly understand that. Sharing the full attention you got for the first few years of your life was hard. I had a little brother myself, so I understand. 

“... Fine. I guess I can share you with Kinoe.” He whispered. “... I will help too.”

“Thank you, Kakashi. You are truly a good boy.” I smiled and kissed his face everywhere. He twisted half-heartedly to avoid my kisses, but I could see his small smile.

I ushered him to start eating while I woke Kinoe up for lunch. My son ate in silence, watching me gently swaying Kinoe in my arms, coaxing the little boy to eat his mashed strawberry and carrot. Kinoe refused to open his mouth most of the time, even though I tried my hardest to make him eat. Kakashi watched us in dismay at first, but he quickly finished his meal, and then offered to feed Kinoe while I ate instead. 

I almost cry from being proud of my son. He offered to help. I thanked him and let Kakashi sit next to me, then taught him how to spoon feed Kinoe. The baby looked more interested in Kakashi than he was with me, opening his mouth more readily to Kakashi’s feeding. The first time Kinoe fully chomped on Kakashi’s spoon, my son looked surprised and flushed with excitement. When Kinoe swallowed and squealed, Kakashi was sporting a small smile and was ready with the next portion. 

I hid my smile. My son has found the joy of being a big brother.

I laid my praise thick as well to reward my pup. I praised Kakashi for his help, as well as pointing out how Kinoe liked him better than me. Kakashi’s confused but pleased expression warmed my chest. It was such a learning moment and I was glad I got to watch my son grow. 

* * *

We ended up going to the park in the afternoon. Kakashi needed some distraction from Kinoe, while I tried to get more sunlight for Kinoe. The baby, if he was really infused with Mokuton cells, would be more amenable when he received enough sunlight. 

I was also surprised when Keiko-san, my editor, was there. She was seating on my usual bench, so I asked to join her. My son already ran and joined Obito, Asuma and Genma. She was surprised to see me and asked about Kinoe. I told her Kinoe was a friend’s kid that was entrusted to me. We discussed a bit about child rearing, especially for infants, before turning to talk about my stories. 

The Bijuu storybook was actually approved by her boss and currently under illustration process. I couldn’t wait to see the end result, because I really wanted to see cute chibis of bijuus. On the other hand, my Harry Potter script was rejected. She apologised to me and asked me whether I could write another story. I was massively disappointed (Harry Potter was my childhood) but again, J.K. Rowling got rejected many times before she got published. I also realised how the Narutoverse was mostly East Asian in culture, so Harry potter was a bit too different. I guessed I should write about ‘Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun’ instead. 

Obito and Gai joined us for dinner, and I was pleased when kakashi told them Kinoe was his little brother, and Kakashi even showed off how Kinoe only wanted to be fed by Kakashi. Obito pouted and told Kakashi that Shisui was a good baby too, while Gai looked longingly at Kinoe because he didn’t have any siblings. We ended up escorting Gai and Obito back to their homes, and Obito promised he would bring Shisui next time. 

I remembered the last time I walked home with Kakashi from the Uchiha compound, I had my baby in my arms. Now I have Kinoe wrapped around my chest, while Kakashi walked beside me, grabbing my hand. He looked like he wanted to be carried, but he understood and took my hand instead. We exchanged jokes and talked about everything and anything. It was different. It also showed how much he had grown. 

And I knew my son would grow to be a very fine man. 

I couldn’t be prouder of him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love and encouragement! Please share with me your prompt, especially fluff ones, so I can incorporate them in. 
> 
> I am not sure, but next chapter will be a time jump, and we will meet Danzo. Also Kushina stalking Kaori.


	11. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time jump. Plot intensified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time jump.

Half a year later. 

I sat on one of the public benches in front of the Academy classroom, anxiously waiting for my son to come out. Today was Kakashi’s Academy entrance test. I knew he would ace it, but I still felt anxious for my son. He had grown quite a lot, taller and heavier (I could no longer carry him now, and he told me he was too big for it anyway), but most importantly, had grown into a boy who felt embarrassed when seen with his mother. It made me very sad. 

The test was just formality--since Kakashi was still underage to join the Academy. Kakashi told Sakumo and I how he wanted to join the Academy because he was already a big boy and ready to learn. But I knew he was trying to catch up with his friends--everyone was older and would be joining the Academy this year, so that’s why Kakashi wanted to start too. I discussed the possibility with Sakumo and my husband agreed there was nothing basic he could teach Kakashi at home anymore (except for the Family jutsus and summoning contracts). So Academy seemed to be the sensible choice. 

My pup was growing to be the killing machine I hoped he wouldn’t be. I couldn’t shield him from the world anymore. Perhaps my anxiety was just because I knew the chain of events that would start once my pup entered Academy. I felt apprehensive of the changes that came with this milestone. 

Meanwhile, Kinoe was busy gumming on his fist and babling nonsensically. The three years old touched my cheek and I smiled back at him. He was just adorable, especially with his big eyes. He was kind of still learning how to emote, as Orochimaru was not a great role model for emotions. But since Orochimaru has moved in and Kinoe became my second child, my Mokuton baby has started to smile more and more. Orochimaru has yet to admit on Kinoe’s Mokuton infusion, but I had seen Kinoe sprouted leaves from the palm of his hand.

I dreaded the day he wanted to copy Kakashi and covered his face with a half-mask (Kakashi decided he wanted to be like Sakumo and procured his own half mask. Sakumo actually told me it was appropriate, since Kakashi has Hatake’s nose and the mask will help filtering the scents. Apparently they got sharper by age). Kinoe adored Kakashi with the intensity of a thousand-sun, like an Uchiha’s obsession. He wanted to do everything Kakashi did, eat everything Kakashi ate, and play with Kakashi all the time. 

It made Orochimaru and I jealous (yes, we were humans with maternal jealousy) but Sakumo just laughed at us when I complained to him. My husband told me Orochimaru has started to become like my real sister, with our similar clothing preferences and tiger-mom like approach to our sons. On the other hand, Kakashi found Kinoe half adorable-half annoying little brother, and decided he would rename Kinoe as Tenzou--thus, the nickname was born. Orochimaru frowned when he came back from his last mission to realise that Kinoe responded more to Tenzou rather than Kinoe. I gave him my sympathy that our sons were growing independent so fast over our tea chat. 

On that note, currently Sakumo was away on a short ANBU mission and would be back tomorrow, while Orochimaru was called for a solo mission until next week--and thus I was alone, waiting for Kakashi to come out from the room. While playing with little Kinoe, my mind wandered onto things that had happened. 

It has been a year since I entered Narutoverse, waking up as Hatake Kaori. I still remembered my dependency on my laptop, google and vacuum cleaner. I missed my one bedroom flat home, my fanfiction and bank account. I only have a brother left, both of my parents were deceased. My father’s life insurance payment has covered his debt, leaving my brother and I nothing. It was better than inherited debt though, so we were thankful about it. 

My brother and I weren’t that close--we barely exchange messages once a month. He was an IT manager in an international company while I was a full time freelance Project Manager. We sold our parent’s house and divided the money between us. The notary meeting was the last time I actually saw him face to face. My love life was abysmal. I was told I flirted too fast, fell in love too soon, and got bored too often. My last boyfriend was the one who stabbed me afterall. I wondered how my brother was doing, I hoped he was alright. 

Compared to that bland life, my current situation felt a bit more colourful. 

I maintained my role as a housewife, happily cooking and cleaning. Despite the gender stereotype, I found myself enjoying the tasks at hand. I was happy to welcome my family with a warm, clean home. I made friends with the market vendors who sometimes gave me discounts on seasonal vegetables and meat. I have learned my husband, sons, and sister’s (hah! I called orochimaru my sister!) favourite foods and enjoyed making them. I strive to be the best homemaker I could be, while taking care of Kakashi and Kinoe. Afterall, I wanted to give Sakumo and Orochimaru reasons to come back to Konoha. 

However, despite my wish, my test came back negative for pregnancy. Sakumo and I talked about it and I conveyed my disappointment, which turned to a discussion on our mutual wish to have another kid (or three, in Sakumo’s offhand comments. Hatake was a pack clan after all). It made Sakumo feel like his new personal mission to get a baby in me--I certainly enjoyed the time he ravished me until four times at night. Despite his busy missions schedule, he always requests at least two days off between missions, and those nights were very _productive_. One time I couldn’t even walk in the morning due to weak legs, Sakumo ended up being my personal butler for the morning. Kakashi was so worried and then so mad when he realised his father was the reason I couldn’t make breakfast for him. The pout was epic. Orochimaru raised his eyebrow at us and ignored the Hatake morning drama to feed Kinoe his morning porridge. 

The boarding house was ready and currently under soft opening -- I was still preparing the booking system. It was a split between renting long term and having fixed lower income, or renting short term with uncertain higher income. I have yet to open it to the public. Currently there were Orochimaru and Kinoe in one private room by the third floor (although it was kind of redundant-- Kinoe’s nursery occupied the third room in Hatake main home and Orochimaru usually slept there with him whenever he was in the village anyway. But I guessed his pride wouldn’t allow him to move into our home and eat my cookings without contributing something) and several new chuunins in the dormitory by the first floor. I planned to hire a housekeeper for the apartment building to help me take care of free breakfast I offered as well as weekly cleaning service for private rooms. 

I just finished designing a promotional poster with an opening promo scheme of half price nightly rate for the first week, which I would ask my husband to post on the ANBU and Jounin Lounge information boards. It would still be a long time until I could BEP with my investment on rebuilding, but Sakumo assured me he was very happy already with the result. He personally (forced) asked Jiraiya to make the privacy seals for an eight of the price if we actually asked another sealing master. 

Jiraiya was surprised to learn Orochimaru was one of the tenants in the boarding house and he warned Sakumo and I about Orochimaru’s reputation. I got really angry and (unprofessionally) screamed bloody murder at Jiraiya, shaming him for leaving his own teammates when Orochimaru needed him the most. Jiraiya looked half ashamed and half raged from my accusation, and Sakumo needed to separate us. I refused to receive that foul man or his sealings in my home, but after gentle coaxing by my husband, I defused and let my husband handle the seal dealings. I realised now that my husband was trying to shield me from Jiraiya’s bad impression of Orochimaru. 

After that, it seemed Orochimaru heard about the fight and told me he would talk to Jiraiya. He also hugged me for a moment and thanked me for defending him against his old teammate. I cursed Jiraiya for that, no one should feel inferior to their old teammates! Even thinking about it now still made me angry. 

On the side, the books I wrote were selling alright and made a decent income for us. Ever since the first Bijuu storybook (it created a small controversy, but luckily my editor knew how to keep my identity a secret), I had published another three story books and two short young adult novels. The story books were Disney stories of Mulan, Frozen and Pinnochio. Funnily enough, Mulan was popular in Konoha, while Frozen was in Kiri and Pinnochio in Suna. Maybe it was because of the Village’s clan affinity. The short young adult novels were about the founders-- the five ways relationship between Uchihas, Senjus and Uzumaki. It generated some good response that I gave it a sequel. I also put in the real happenings there-- with Zetsu and Kaguya as the main villains. My readers dismissed it as simply fictional, while I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Maybe Zetsu has no interest in civilian fiction books. It might be one of Shinobi’s downfalls, they tend to underestimate Civilian’s things. 

Sometimes I wondered whether I was dreaming. 

I would be very sad when I woke up. 

Suddenly I shivered, as some intense sensation filled the corridor and called me from my musings. I looked around but saw no one, the corridor empty with all the kids inside the class. I huffed and hugged Kinoe tighter to my chest, then realised my baby was holding a piece of paper. My uneasiness intensified, I took the paper from Kinoe, while absentmindedly gave him a kiss on his forehead. 

_‘Consider yourself warned’_

My heart skipped for a second. 

What the hell. 

Who was it? Who gave this paper to Kinoe? And I didn’t feel anything at all. 

  
Before I could panic even further, the examination door opened and my son came out with an Academy teacher. 

“Hatake-san?” the teacher called me, so I rose from the bench and walked towards them. “Thank you for waiting. We will inform you of the result soon.” 

I gathered myself and thanked the teacher, then walked out of the Academy as fast as I could with Kakashi beside me. My hands were still trembling a bit from the sudden shock, but I could guess who it was. Either ANBU or ROOT, both were bad news. 

“How was the test?” I asked my son, while trying to calm myself down. Kakashi looked up at me -- has grown to my hip now, still small but I could see he would be a tall man like his father. 

“Easy.” he shrugged. Kinoe twisted to see his big brother and reached out for Kakashi. I smiled and let myself relax further. Yes, it was just a warning and I needed to prepare, but now I needed to focus on my sons. 

“Well, how about we eat out, just the three of us? It’s been a while,” I asked while patting my son’s fluffy white hair -- and Kakashi playfully slapped my hand away. I playfully pouted at him and made puppy eyes at my son. He growled and grabbed my hand instead. I smiled triumphantly and we went to the ichiraku Ramen. It just felt right, as the ramen place was one constant in all Narutoverse and fanfictions I had ever read. 

The establishment has grown as well--with more chairs and the owner telling me he was planning to buy the space next door to expand. I congratulated him on his business success, while feeding Kinoe the ramen broth and little pieces of cut noodles. Kakashi ate his miso ramen in silence, watching us with a bored expression. 

It felt like deja vu when two figures entered. I blinked to see Kushina’s red fiery hair and bright green eyes turned to me with recognition. It has been half a year since Kakashi’s faux pas, and I secretly hoped they had forgotten about it. The figure behind him-- Minato, I noted--stopped behind Kushina and saw me too. Damn, I couldn’t run away this time--Kakashi was still eating and my own bowl was still half filled. 

“Teuchi-san, one bowl of miso for me and four bowls for Kushina please!” Minato asked the owner good-naturedly, then taking the other seat beside Kakashi. Meanwhile, Kushina took the seat right next to me, positively blocking our sides. 

“Hi, I think we have met before.” Minato smiled (and I was scared. Despite his current young age, he would be the Yondaime with super ninja ability and his smile made him even more fearsome). “My name is Namikaze Minato, and she is Uzumaki Kushina. May we know yours?” 

I decided to play it cool (damn, everything was so bad this morning. Not only Kakashi has taken the exam to join the Academy, the horrifying warning and now this. I should have just stayed in bed this morning). “Ah, Well met, dears. My name is Kaori and these are my sons, Kakashi and ...Tenzou.” 

“Oh they are very cute.” Kushina smiled and poked Kinoe’s cheek. My Mokuton baby puffed and tried to bite the finger to no avail. Kushina giggled. Kakashi, on the other hand, looked pissed. 

“Don’t touch my brother.” he warned. 

I smiled and patted Kakashi’s hair, trying to calm him down. Nothing would be worse than him getting angry in front of the two young adults. “My apologies. Tenzou... is sensitive and Kakashi is very protective of him.” 

“Oh I am sorry.” Kushina apologised to Kakashi. “Can I treat you to a gyoza as an apology?” 

Kakashi nodded slowly and Minato chuckled. Oh, that was smooth. Now I couldn’t excuse ourselves from them too quickly before the gyoza came. 

“Sorry I didn’t catch your family name.” Minato asked again. 

I smiled back at him. I was older than him, I could play this interrogation game. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” I answered and poured the self-serving tea and put it in front of Minato, then Kushina. “Do you like ramen too? We found this is the place for the best ramen in Konoha. My compliment for the chef.” 

“Yes, it is!” Kushina quickly added. “Do you come here often?” 

“Oh, just for special occasions.” 

“What’s the occasion today?” Minato added with interest. 

“Just special mother-sons bonding while the father’s away.” I smiled at him and fed Kinoe his next spoon. I saw Kakashi almost finished his own bowl. Probably it was safe to go. And on cue, kinoe suddenly yawned. “Ah, I am sorry. I think it’s time for Tenzo’s morning nap. It’s nice to know you two, Namikaze-san, Uzumaki-san. Let us take your gyoza offer another day.” 

They protested, but I was quicker and paid our bill. I pulled Kakashi, “Please say goodbye to the Owner, nice nii-san and nee-san.” 

“... See you later, Owner-san, Yellow nii-san and Fox-nee-san.” 

“Kakashi.” I sternly grabbed his hand and stood quickly, but they were already alerted. 

“What did you call me?” Kushina stopped smiling and asked seriously. 

“Fox-nee-san.” my son answered truthfully.

“Hush, Kakashi. My apology for my son’s impoliteness. I would offer you a gyoza to counter his rudeness, but now we are even. Thank you and goodbye.” 

The Owner put down their bowls right at that moment, and I quickly walked away with kakashi in tow. Kakashi looked at me curiously. 

I huffed and quickly pulled Kakashi towards our compound. When we finally reached the compound, I quickly ushered him in and locked the door behind me. I knew it would not deter the two young adults from reaching me, but at least my home was still protected by the Hatake clan’s privacy and protection seals. They wouldn’t come in uninvited. 

After I was sure we were quite safe, I dropped onto the floor and hid my face on my palms. Kinoe looked agitated because he didn’t like being jostled around, so I pulled him out of the sling and carried him in my arms. I gestured to Kakashi to follow me and we sat on the sofa. 

I turned to my oldest son. “What did I say about the lady who smelled like a fox?”

“That she is the... jinchuriki?” Kakashi answered. 

“No, before that.” 

“...It’s a secret?”

“Correct. As a ninja, you should be able to keep your secrets with you, pup,” I tried to smile. “Kaa-chan has told you lots of secrets and stories. Can you please keep it to yourself, or at least be careful about it? Taunting secrets to people are dangerous. Secrets are secrets because of many reasons.”

“But you told me about it.” 

“Yes, because I need to prepare you.” I pleaded. “But it’s just for you only. I have not told your father or Orochimaru-san. Just… Just be careful, alright?”

“Alright, Kaa-chan.” 

“And promise me, Kakashi. If anything happens to me, take care of your father and brother.” 

“What do you mean? What will happen to you?” Kakashi asked back, this time his voice was filled with worry. Kinoe cooed from my chest and I hugged him tighter. 

“I don’t know, pup. But something will come. I need you to be strong.” 

“I can protect you and Tenzou, Kaa-chan. I will.” 

I smiled sadly. “I know you can, Kakashi. Thank you.” 

_I knew you can, pup. I just hoped you wouldn’t need to._

* * *

I tried to keep my calm about the whole situation. I slipped the note inside my household journal, wondering what I should do about it. The warning was vague, I wasn’t sure what it was warning me against. But the implication was clear. I needed to ensure my insurance was ready for my family, just in case anything happened. 

So that night I pushed myself to write everything down. I had been postponing this since the very first week I joined Narutoverse. I kept pushing it back, thinking there was still time. But the situation was getting worse. I regretted my procrastination tendency. 

I write it down like a story, titling it as if it was a sequel of my short novel with Konoha’s founders story. I wrote it from Naruto POV’s, from his background, the Kyuubi attack, Uchiha Massacre, Naruto Bridge Mission, chuunin exam, Sasuke’s detachment, Akatsuki, Gaara’s death, Tobi, Madara, and The Fourth Shinobi War with Kaguya. It was a long night and I didn’t sleep a wink. By morning, the thick scripts were written. I slightly altered the names using different hiragana while using the same kanji. But other than that, I wrote everything from my memory. Slightly unclear in parts, but it was the whole story. 

Since there was no photocopy machine on hand, I only had one copy. I put it in an envelope and put it under the bed. Morning sunshine filled my room from gaps between the curtain, signalling me it was already morning. I needed to prepare breakfast for my sons and my tenants despite my headache from a sleepless night. But my mind was still racing. 

What should I do with this script? I could give it to Sakumo, Orochimaru, the Hokage or Kakashi for safe keeping. Or I could also publish it with Keiko-san. 

If I put it with Sakumo, not only he was not around now, but he might not believe me and looked down on me. I loved my husband and I knew he loved me, yet this was too crazy to believe. The most probable situation would be him believing I was just imagining stuff and treated this script as a simple imagination. Or he might also question my sanity, possibly suspecting a delayed after-effect from the operation. If I was not around by then (either because I was killed or detained), he might have ended up killing himself and left Kakashi alone. 

If I trust this with Orochimaru, I would be putting him in a very difficult situation. He might have believed me and suspected my identity as Hatake Kaori. Outside from that, he was in no position to act, as he was the Village’s pariah. Even The Hokage wouldn’t believe him and dismissed his report of my script as a conspiracy theory. It might end up with my Husband still committed suicide and left Kakashi alone. Not only that, Orochimaru also has Kinoe to think about, and this script could threaten both of them. 

The Hokage seemed to be a better option, but he would definitely detain me and T&I would break me, especially since he had a soft spot for Danzo. Who was I, a civilian, against his former trusted team mates? I couldn’t handle pain that well. And if I died before they believed me, the plot would still continue. Not to mention this would fall to Danzo’s hand especially with his ROOT agents in T&I.

Should I leave this with Kakashi? It was a risk I didn’t want to take. I didn’t want him to read his probably dark future. I wanted to keep him innocent as long as possible. He would read and be burdened with knowledge he didn’t know how to use. Worse, he would break and become easier to manipulate by the Village. And what could he do anyway? It was just putting more burden on my son. 

Should I just publish them, with Keiko-san? It was a wild card. I would definitely land in jail if she tattled to the government. She might not publish it as well. And since it was still under fiction in civilian literature, it might not reach the right audience and wasted just as a fiction. 

I even made a decision matrix yet there were too many variables to think about. The loop was incomplete. Damn. I hoped I still have time to decide. This was not something I could decide on a whim. 

I washed myself with cold water to wake me up, then prepared breakfast. My sons were still fast asleep, thank Kami. The kitchen was silent and peaceful just like usual. I decided to just make the simplest rice and tamagoyaki. Suddenly my door was knocked, so I turned off the stove and went to the front door. 

I regretted opening it. 

Danzo was standing there, looking down on me. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think Kaori should tell? Sakumo , Orochimaru, Hokage, Kakashi or her editor? 
> 
> Or Danzo? :D


	12. Danzo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaori met Danzo and discussed it with her husband.

“Danzo-sama, may I help you?” I asked after I poured him his tea. 

We were seated on the sofa. I couldn’t not invite him in because social rules dictated you never refuse an elder. I invited him into the house--something that probably I regretted already. I might need to check with Sakumo to upgrade the security next--just like updating anti-virus. 

“Hatake Kaori-san. Well met.” 

Uhm. We have met before, remember? When I snubbed him because he was bullying Orochimaru into doing the experiments that would ruin my sister’s life. 

“Well met, Shimura-sama.” I replied back, answering with the fakest customer service smile. “How may I help you?” (I felt like a bank teller). 

“Would you like to recover your lost chakra?”

Huh? 

Out of all things I expected him to say, that was the least. It never even entered my mind. Chakra wise, I am pure civilians. I was not Kaori and I had never had chakra. It has been a small concern of mine--would my next child with Sakumo has no chakra? What would happen then? But I reckoned since I was just here in soul--this body was still Kaori’s anyway, so the genes should still carry cakra potential. Anyway, back to topic. 

“...I humbly accept my current situation, Shimura-sama.” I answered slowly. “My family has accepted the matter and since it does not affect my family, I…”

“Surely your husband or your child wants you to have chakra? It would be easier to fully heal you. Also, wouldn’t you yourself want it back? To be the Konoha shinobi? To be able to stand for konoha again?” 

No. Honestly, a big No. I was not born in Konoha. Personally I would let Konoha burn as long as it wouldn’t hurt my family. Aside from that, Kaori has no love lost for Konoha either. The village abandoned her when she needed them the most. (Almost) Becoming a crippled prostitute was not an enjoyable activity. How laughable for Danzo to think I would love to be shinobi again. Chakra, while cool and hip, was not everything in life. 

But I got where Danzo wanted to bring me--appealing to (supposedly) my wish to regain back the power I have lost. To regain my standing back in the society--after all, in this military village, shinobi was a class higher than lowly civilians. 

Probably my face showed some of my dismay, but Danzo seemed to misinterpret it. 

“Imagine you can get some… closure with your previous team and teacher. I can help and train you, to become more than they would ever be.” 

My teammates were a Jounin teacher of questionable clan, a living Uchiha and a dead Aburame. I had zero encounter from the first two, as they deemed me too unimportant to be kept. Or probably they had some lingering guilt. The last one had died and no one from that clan wanted to have any sort of relation to me. Either way, I didn’t really care as long as they didn’t pose any danger to my family. 

But it made me realise how Danzo worked. He appealed to the power hungry side, the pride side of people. He tried to allure people to their (supposedly) wishes. He tried to tempt Orochimaru with unlimited experience. He wanted me to have revenge against my old teammates. He was a good tempest. 

Why did it leave me feeling … dirty? It also left me feeling pity for a man who probably didn’t know the meaning of forgiveness and move along in peace. Peace for him was not an option. Ah. It reminded me of Eric from X-men. Probably they had the same drives and similar backgrounds. But the difference was Eric was handsome (so very, very shippable) enough, while Danzo was not. 

“... May I ask something, Shimura-sama?” 

“You may.” 

“Please share with me, what do you see when you see Konoha?” I genuinely wanted to know. Danzo was always pictured as public enemy number one in the majority of the fics. In shounen manga, he filled the main villain character quota so well. But I was intrigued. I was arrogant to believe that there must be reasons for everything, and I wanted to know Danzo’s. 

“... I believe I see strength, the Will of Fire and Konoha would be the strongest Nation in this World.” 

“Is it just the strength? How about Konoha as a Village?” 

“Before all else, a Village needs to be strong enough to protect herself from attacks. Strength to defend Konoha as the leading superpower of the Five Nations.” 

“May I ask why you think like that? Is the current Konoha not strong enough?” 

“... You don’t understand what you are asking for, child.” Danzo’s eyes squinted at me. “Konoha is strong enough to annihilate Her enemies to dust. Complacency is too dangerous.”

“Oh, I don’t mean to question her strength.” I backtracked. “But the way I see it… you always want to keep her strong in … in military power. Have you ever thought probably there is another type of power?”

“What do you mean?” 

“There is an endless loop in chasing at being the strongest. Power is relative. How would you define the power? Is Konoha the strongest because we have the best military power? Is Kiri the strongest because they had the most kekkei genkai? Was Uzushio strong because of their Fuinjutsu? How strong we are depends on how we define strength, and any change to that definition will change our position, and it would end up in an endless, self consuming feedback loop. … Don’t you feel … tired chasing it?” 

“You dare to question my philosophy?” Danzo asked, but not unkindly. It felt like he was assessing me, whether my question was worth it to be answered. 

“I want to see Konoha from your point of view, Shimura-sama.” I answered blithely. “I want to understand you.” 

“... You dare…!” 

“Please, Shimura-sama. Please let this lowly housewife ask you. Konoha is… Konoha is important for me too. I was born and had lived for the past thirty years in this Village. My family depends on this Village as well. You are my respected Elder, my leader. I want to know where you are bringing us. We are just a part of Konoha as you are.” 

“... You think you have the right to question me, an elder and your leader, on my way?”

“Yes. Because there is no leader without a team.” I answered back strongly. I was used to facing CEOs and Dept Heads who had grandeur about their own worth. “Just like there will be no village without Her People. So I’d like to understand you, my leader, my Elder. Why do you keep chasing power? And what do you mean by the strength you are trying to lead us to?” 

Danzo stopped and took a sip of the tea. “Do you think you can have a nice life because you are entitled to it? We are in war. The only reason why Konoha can still maintain this way of life is because of military power!” 

I nodded. “I concede your point. I am very aware and very thankful for Konoha’s shinobi force who work relentlessly to protect this village. But aside from that, have you… have the Village acknowledge the other power too?”

“What kind of power?” 

“The power of the economy. The power of collective societies. Fear drives mutual destruction. Economy drives overall wealth. Instead of trying to … annihilate, why not work together to flourish?”

“It is not as simple as that, child…. Peace was never an option.” 

“Is it?” I asked, genuinely interested. “Why do you think of that?”

“Because the other party won’t have it.” Danzo looked away. I was stunned that he actually showed some vulnerability to me. “... otherwise Tobirama-Sensei, the Nidaime, would still be alive.” 

“... The power to protect what’s important, is it what you mean by strength then, Shimura-sama?” I poured him his next cup. “If that’s the case, I understand and fully support you, my Elder. However it is still recommended to utilise other ways of seeking power, other than killing each other. After all, good intention with bad approach bring devastating result.” 

Silence fell upon us. Danzo needed time to recollect himself from the sudden confession, while I needed to give myself time to think. I agreed with his basic reason, because we were the same. I wanted to protect my family, and only my family. Danzo, as an elder, wanted to protect his Village, which was bigger than the family unit like mine. I didn’t agree with the way he did it, though. 

Yet with the way he was raised and survived, maybe Danzo wouldn’t understand me. Despite Kaori’s shinobi upbringing, I didn’t remember any of it, so my point of view would be unreliable and civilian-naive.

“... back to our point of discussion,” I felt the need to come back to the topic in hand, a habit I picked as the usual mediator in meetings. “In regards to my broken chakra coil… I don’t see how I can earn it back. I have lived without it and currently my family and I have accepted my situation. So, thank you for the offer...”

“What if I tell you, you have potential to be more?” Danzo cut me. “What if you can use it to know who you are?”

I blinked and tilted my head. 

“I can help you find your clan, child.” 

* * *

I felt very drained after Danzo left. The man finally left the compound after telling me to contact him should I want to proceed. I had thought he wanted to warn me off Orochimaru or something (because I was sure I had changed the plot-- Orochimaru didn’t start heartlessly doing children experimentation. I had seen him becoming more and more human with us and Kinoe). Yet Danzou’s last offer really brought me off balance. Finding my clan? Kaori from the diary never wrote about her clan--or potential of it. But it was implied that her parentage was something important to her--and by extension, me. 

I didn’t realise I was sitting on the sofa when Kakashi slipped into my lap. 

“Kaa-chan, are you okay?”

I blinked. 

My son. This would concern Kakashi too. Because he was my son. He has Kaori’s genes. He deserved to know what clan his other half gene was from. But was it worth it to work with Danzo? To make a pact with the devil? 

I hugged him to my chest and hid my face in his soft silver hair. I couldn’t hide my weakness from my son. He hugged me back, and I knew I was worrying him. But I needed that moment of weakness and stopped my body from trembling slightly. 

And to think, Sakumo would have that bad mission soon… which, to my understanding, was sabotaged by ROOT. Danzo held all the strings. I… if I work with Danzo, I could potentially negotiate for my family’s safety. I didn’t know enough about Danzo’s sudden interest in me. But the implications were there. 

Firstly, he deemed my clan important enough to get DNA from that he offered me to heal my chakra. It was a logical thing, because for shinobi chakra was everything and they considered not having chakra as a debilitating disability. They couldn't understand my choice of not having it. I was not naive enough to think he wanted to help me personally, afterall I was nothing but lowly civilian to his eyes. But if my clan was that important, or powerful, or worse, cursed with a kekkei genkai that might bring danger to any of my children, then I needed to know it to protect my family from it. Logically speaking, if Kaori was just an Inuzuka, then Danzo wouldn’t go out of his way to recruit me (he could just kidnap unbroken one). Something else, something other than Inuzuka must be there. This could also be my bargaining power with him. 

Secondly, if I refuse, he would sabotage my family, starting from my husband to hiring my son for ROOT. Danzo, however good his intention might be, might not have the best approach to things. I could potentially negotiate my family’s safety to his wish--I could keep my husband from getting sabotaged, even helped him (because inhuman or not, ROOT agents were strong and determined enough). Hopefully, I could even extract a promise of not roping my sons into ROOT. 

Thirdly, I have this nagging feeling that Danzo… Danzo was not as bad as he was portrayed. His drive to protect Konoha made him feel the urgent need to be stronger in all the wrong ways. I … I wanted to try and help him. Afterall, despite their age and emotionless state, ROOT agents were the best trained shinobi. In the manga, Tenzou used to be trained by Danzo himself, and turned out to be a very strong, capable shinobi (but without mental health). He has it in him to be a good teacher, outside the utilitarian and pain/punishment-based learning. But he wasn’t perfect and I believed he needed help. He has yet to work with Madara/Obito or Zetsu. I believed I still has a chance. 

But maybe I was too conceited. Danzo was not a simple man. I was no match for him in political or strategic maneuvering, why would he even negotiate with me? Why would he even let me in? But I would still try, because I needed to protect my family. Sakumo, Kakashi, Orochimaru and Kinoe deserved better. If I failed… my family was at stake.

And if Danzo found my script… what then? The risk made my stomach clenched with anxiety. On the other hand… he was actually in the position of power to make changes. Because half of the thing that was wrong originated from Danzo’s own choices. 

“... Did he bully you, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi suddenly asked and pulled me from my musings. I blinked and sighed. “Did he say something bad to you, Kaa-chan?”

I tried to smile, but my lips were shaking and I knew I wasn’t very convincing. “Nothing, pup. It’s nothing.” 

And at that moment, my husband chose to come back home. 

“I am back!” he called from our front door. I gently pushed Kakashi from my lap, urging him to get his father. Kakashi looked reluctant to leave me, but he obeyed me and went to the door to welcome Sakumo. 

“Welcome back,” I followed my son and greeted my husband by the door. 

He looked dirty and tired--just like any other mission, really. But his face was… filled with surprise? Shock? And he looked lost. Not sad, but … lost.

Oh. I needed to be strong for him. So I pushed my thoughts back, bracing myself to provide calm and relief for him. He pulled Kakashi into his arms, then looked down to give me a chaste kiss. I touched his face, pulling my most welcome smile for him. 

“Have you eaten?” I asked. 

“I can do with some food,” he smiled back weakly. “Your food is my greatest mission rewards.”

“Oh Hubby, you sweet talker.” I blushed. “Well, then take a bath first with Kakashi. I will prepare breakfast.” 

“You haven’t prepared…?” He asked curiously, noting how late in the morning it was. “Are you alright?” it seemed he came to the conclusion I was late making breakfast because I might be down with something. 

I shook my head. Sakumo just returned from a mission that he clearly didn’t enjoy. It wasn’t my time to burden him with Danzo. I could handle that. “I am fine, Hubby. Just had a guest, that’s all.” 

“Who was it?” He carried Kakashi and guided me to the sofa. He saw the tea cups and the pot, then realised it was one of the nice ones that I seldom used. He could see that the guest was not Orochimaru, then. 

“... The elder Shimura danzo-sama.” I sighed. Sakumo looked alarmed and his hand on my waist tightened. Kakashi watched us with interest too. I knew it was not the place to discuss this. “It was nothing, Sakumo. It’s fine. Go take a bath first. I’ll make breakfast. Kakashi, please follow your father and clean up.” 

I pulled myself. My whole body felt weak and I had the start of a massive headache. It wasn’t wise to be awake the whole night writing and having a strong impromptu discussion in the morning. So I focused on breakfast instead. I wished the rice cooker had already been invented in this world, but since it was a futile wish, I made porridge instead. This way I didn’t need to be concerned about steps in cooking rice. Tamagoyaki was no big deal, and sliced potato marinated in soy sauce next. I also cut the bread and opened the new bottle of jam, arranging it to be given to the guests in the boarding house. I left it on the placement seal--it was a neat little seal that served as a displacement--just like the Hogwart’s four tables between the Great Hall and the Kitchen (I took that idea and asked Sakumo to create the seal). 

I greeted my husband and son with a smile and breakfast ready on the table. I excused myself to clean while they ate, and tried to cover my pale face with a bit of colour from pinching my cheek. It should be alright. I looked better after I cleaned up. Then I moved to collect Kinoe, who just woken up and stood in his little cot. His arms were up, reaching me to pick him up. 

I smiled. He was getting bigger and heavier. His big eyes unblinkingly watched me. So far he was a silent baby, preferring silence when grumpy instead of shouting or crying loud. I kissed his forehead, and he looked at me before giving me a smile. 

How precious. 

“Morning, my mokuton sapling.” I whispered my nickname to him. It wasn’t wise to let anyone know my nickname for him. “Wake up and shine, just like the sunflower you are.” 

He babled some words about “Big Brother” and grabbed my side hair. I winced in pain, but let him. He gummed my hair while I brought him to the dining table. My husband and pup looked like they were finishing their meal, so I put Kinoe on the chair beside me. They hadn’t had a baby chair of any sort in Konoha, so I usually put him on my lap while we eat. But recently he was obsessed with mimicking Kakashi, including sitting on his own “big boy” chair. 

_ Let’s talk later.  _ My husband signed to me. I nodded. He seemed to need to talk, I guessed I had succeeded in making him open up to me. Nowadays, he opened himself a lot to me, sometimes even telling me about his less than S ranked missions. I was very happy with my accomplishment. 

While feeding Kinoe, a bird knocked on our window. Kakashi took the bird and opened the message. 

“I am to enroll in the Academy starting tomorrow.” Kakashi said slowly, trying to keep cool. But I could see he was quite excited about it. Not because he could learn, but because he could join his park-friends now. It was good too, I guessed. Kakashi has grown into a semi-normal boy, who liked to play with friends and somehow sociable instead of some little baby killer. Maybe this time he wouldn’t be in a rush to graduate from the Academy. Maybe this time Kakashi could enjoy being a child. He would still be a genius anyway. 

Have I changed the plot? Maybe. Did I regret it? 

No. My baby was happy and that was all that mattered. 

* * *

We spent the day spoiling Kakashi with his wishes. The growing pup wanted Sakumo to teach him more jutsu in preparation of entering the Academy (Sakumo and I smiled, because we both know he was already above those of first years and even third years’ knowledge in all things ninjas) while he expected me to accompany him purchasing Academic stuff--like new books and stationery, book and more kunais. 

I prepared some sweet cold tea for them while going around my finance journals, calculating how much we could spend on Kakashi’s stuff. Apparently we still could splurge a bit, with a family dinner no less, despite the huge investment I made to build the boarding house. Orochimaru has been pitching in some money to us (which I always refused to take--but he ended up slipping it in my wallet anyway). I smiled apologetically at my husband. 

“I am sorry, you must be tired.” I whispered when Sakumo sat beside me in the dojo, while Kakashi focused on his sword katas. “But he is so proud of you--all his friends couldn’t stop asking when you can teach them again.” 

Sakumo blushed from pleasure and kissed my hair. I loved it when he blushed like that. He was suited to be a teacher. I wished he could be just a teacher like Iruka in the manga. But with his level of abilities, Sakumo wouldn’t be allowed to leave the front line. 

My husband pulled me closer to him. Kinoe was sitting next to us, with a small rubber kunai in his hand, waving along Kakashi’s movement. “I don’t mind it. I am sorry I wasn’t there for his test.”

“Can you come with us tomorrow morning to send Kakashi to the Academy?” 

“I should be able to come. I might be staying in the village more in the near future.” 

“Oh?” my interest was piqued. That was new. My husband was one of the strongest Jounin in Konoha. 

“I actually need to discuss this with you. I am … one of the candidates to be the next hokage, or so it seemed.”

What. 

Enjoying the surprise on my face, Sakumo continued. “The Sandaime told me this morning when I reported my mission. He told me to come back this afternoon for further discussion, since I asked him to let me discuss it with you first.” My husband looked at me. I grabbed his hand gently.

I asked him. “Who are the other candidates?” 

“Apparently Tsunade and Orochimaru. Jiraiya recommended me instead of him.” Sakumo chuckled. “Well, Tsunade is not around. So it’s either me or Orochimaru.” 

Uh oh. Both options seemed bad. I have seen what Hokage's position could do to people. Sakumo wouldn’t like the position that was responsible for people’s lives. I had seen how guilt pushed my husband into depression when he killed Sasori’s parents. On the other hand, Orochimaru wouldn’t understand the right decision for people’s lives. He would be an effective, but ruthless Hokage, especially if Danzou was to be his councilman. 

“...Do you want it?” I asked, this time I watched his face closely, trying to gauge any hidden reaction. He looked away and played with my hair. 

“I don’t know.” he shrugged. “To be honest, I just want to stay at home with you and Kakashi. I don’t need to be Hokage for it.” 

“Ah. You can be my househusband, helping me take care of the boarding house,” I smiled coyly, ensuring him that I was just joking. “Then, can we ask Tsunade-hime to be the Hokage?”

“She refuses to come back to Konoha.” Sakumo smiled sadly. “She evades any courier we send to her. It’s just because of her fame that she is not labeled a nuke-nin.”

Our discussion was cut short because Kinoe toddled towards Kakashi and stopped my pup from continuing his katas. Kakashi pouted at us for not paying enough attention at Kinoe, but he kept his little brother close, letting Kinoe grab his pants. “Tou-chan! Kaa-chan! Please keep Tenzo away! I need to train!” 

We chuckled, apologised and I moved to grab kinoe away from my pup. Kinoe pouted because he couldn’t be with his big brother, but he babbled away as I swayed him in my arms. Sakumo just rubbed Kinoe’s brown mane. Sakumo has already accepted Kinoe as his second son, if sort of like a nephew. He was hesitant at first because Kinoe was Orochimaru’s. Yet now he spoiled Kinoe as much as Orochimaru and I did. 

“So?” he asked again. 

‘Hmmm?” I busied myself by kissing my mokuton baby. 

“Why was Shimura-sama here?” 

I stopped smiling and sighed deeply. I didn’t know what to say. 

“Please tell me what he wants.” Sakumo growled slowly. “I don’t like him. I know he has been coveting the Hokage position since before Sarutobi-sama. And with this new candidacy, he must not be very happy.” 

Well, I needed to reciprocate honesty Sakumo has trusted me with. 

“I thought he was going to tell me to stop bothering Oro-san. But he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he offered me the chance to get my chakra back.” I hid my face on Kinoe’s baby-soft hair. “And he told me he can find my clan.” 

When Sakumo didn’t answer, I readied myself and looked up. He was staring at me with intensity I usually met in the bedroom. 

“...Do you? Want your chakra back?”

I shook my head. “I don’t need it. I mean, it’s nice and everything, but I have learned to live without it. I know I am as useless as the next civilian now, and I couldn’t really protect our children from harm, but…”

“Never. You are not useless. I accept you, with or without chakra. You are Kaori hatake, my wife and mother of my children. That’s enough for me. For us.” Sakumo growled. “Leave the protection to me. I’ll handle that.” 

“Oh.” I found myself blushing hard and my chest thumping. Damn, Sakumo. “I …  _ Thank you _ , husband. Why are you so … so perfect? Why do you always make me so happy?.” 

He raised his eyebrow at me, but he blushed as well. “I need to earn my keep as your husband, after all.” 

I giggled happily. We could hear Kakashi sighed from his practice. Over the time, he had resigned himself for our (embarrassing) display of affection. I continued, “On the other offer, about finding my clan. Do you think I should do it?” 

“Why do you think that matters anyway?”

“Because it may affect Kakashi or any children we might have next.” I bit my lips. “I don’t know what kind of kekkei genkai my clan supposedly have. Don’t we need to prepare our children for it?”

Sakumo looked pensive. 

“I don’t like it.” I muttered. “For me, I was an orphan with no special bloodline or anything. But the way Shimura-sama said it, my clan was something different. What if there is a genetic disease or mutation we don’t know about?” 

“You don’t need to force yourself if you don’t want to.” Sakumo finally answered. “In regards to our children, yes, there might be potentially dangerous kekkei genkai or diseases, but I will make sure our children have more Hatake genes, so they should be safe.” 

“What.” I deadpanned. “How are you going to do that?” 

“With my superior sperm, of course.” Sakumo grinned. I blushed. 

“Don’t say that in front of Kinoe!” I almost shrieked and immediately closed my mokuton baby’s ears with my hands. Kinoe looked interested. 

“Superior!” he shrieked gleefully. “ _ Sperm _ !” 

“You see what’ve you done!?” I glared at my husband. He laughed and muttered some half-hearted apologies. I pouted and coaxed Kinoe to forget the words by using sweet tea--and my baby agreed to forget the words after I gave him two big gulps of the sweet tea. The sweet mood continued throughout the day, and I was very thankful about it.   
  


However, it felt like a calm before storm. And I didn't think I prepared enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter : the fateful mission.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakumo POV and plot intensifies.

When Sakumo woke up, the sun had risen and his whole body was--for the lack of other words--snugly. He yawned and stretched languidly until he heard a satisfying crack sound by his back. The bed was cozy with just the right temperature and the sweet scent of his wife mixed with the faint smell of medicine filled his senses. He felt well rested, gained from deep sleep based on a feeling of safety and pack. His bruises were not aching as much anymore, courtesy to his wife’s wonderful deep massage last night (which, unsurprisingly, became a long and lazy love making session). 

It was a wonder how he had taken a good night's sleep for granted. 

A year ago, he would prefer to sleep on the ground like he did on missions. A year ago, he would never feel this content, this need to return to the Hatake compound after each of his missions. Konoha might be his Village, but he felt nothing actually anchored him there--even his own family slowly slipped from Sakumo’s mind. Kaori was dying--there was nothing they could do for her. Without her, Sakumo didn’t know what to do with Kakashi. He left his son alone in the daycare or the house. His son was a genius and he didn’t respond well to Sakumo’s awkward parenting. 

Sakumo was not a good husband or father. 

Returning to the news that Orochimaru operated on Kaori--with significant risk of her dying, made him almost lose his head. He also hated that small part of him that already let her go--relieved to release her from her sufferings. Kaori was a remarkable woman, strong in a way Sakumo wasn’t. Yet her body betrayed her persistence, slowly crumbling to the heavy load of shinobi training and experiences without the help of chakra. Sakumo knew he was a bad husband, providing no support and was helpless beside his wife’s bedside. All he could do was to keep her financial support for her medical requirements. 

He was a bad father to Kakashi. His pup never cried, accepting the fact that he saw the daycare lady more than he saw his own father. Sakumo couldn’t even get his little pup to smile. Kakashi also slowly refused to see his mother-- dying mother who never seemed to wake up from her coma every time he came to visit. His boy seemed frozen when he saw Sakumo--because they both didn’t know how to initiate contact. Kakashi was understandably young, and despite his genius mind, was stunted in human interrelationship. Sakumo, on the other hand, has no excuse. 

The war ended when all the villages burned out their resources and the faux peace relationship between villages made it feel like they were still in a cold war. Every mission brought him down, little by little. His mind was not in a healthy state. Sometimes Sakumo even felt the only thing that kept him from letting it all go was his responsibility as the commander to his team. Jiraiya was the only one who understood and stood by him. That man understood what Sakumo was feeling. After all, he felt the same guilt towards his (used to be) teammates. 

Then Kaori woke up. Little by little, his life became better. 

When she woke up and stated she lost her memory, Sakumo was afraid it would become worse. But she was full of smiles and affection. Within the first day of her recovery, Kakashi spoke more than he ever had in a month. Sakumo could see his up soaked in the free-given love his wife seemed to emit. She called their son “pup” and Kakashi cried like he never would in front of Sakumo. 

When he saw Kaori standing before the stove the next morning, cooking in her apron, Sakumo felt something clogged his throat. He missed her so much. He missed her scent, her warmth. He missed her cooking. They were different than before, but no less delicious. She indulged their son’s need of attention. Her acceptance of Sakumo was something else--it was the first time in a long while Sakumo felt he could share his thoughts, his guilt. Killing the Suna shinobis in front of their son’s was not something Sakumo was proud of. But she stood by him, even though it was a shameful thing. She looked him in the eye and said, very strongly, that she stood by him because she trusted him. Sakumo, the man who seemed to keep making mistakes, and she said she believed his judgement. She made him feel desirable, calling him sexy and with clear hunger in her eyes--it was nice, to be desired even when he was such a broken man. 

In all honesty, Sakumo felt blessed by Heaven. Kaori was a strong woman. Smoking hot. Filled with surprise and quite hard headed. Loving. Accepting. And just plain sexy. Right for him. She is the prettiest in his mind, no other girl could compare. Not because of physical, there were many more perfect, bigger bust, lighter skinned. But because she just completes him the way he needed to be. And she instinctively just was there for him, letting him share just the right amount.

Her random projects were something different he let her indulge in, because he didn’t want to lose her fiery spirit. He preferred his passionate wife compared to the one laying coma on the bed. Even though sometimes she did crazy things like inviting Orochimaru for lunch or defying Elder Shimura. She seemed to know what she was doing, with all the result: she slowly turned the deserted Hatake compound into a income-generating boarding house, her books were selling quite well (Sakumo couldn’t believe it when she showed him the royalty pay from her latest stories, but when he listened closely to the bedtime stories Kaori told Kakashi, Sakumo could see why her book sells well. She has an amazing imagination), and she roped Orochimaru to share his life with them. With all her projects, she might have better income than Sakumo’s mission payments. 

On the side, Sakumo didn’t understand why, but his wife seemed to like Orochimaru so much. He was jealous and told her about it. When Kaori told him he was being silly--she saw Orochimaru as a sister--Sakumo wasn’t ready to believe her. Yet after watching them interact, Sakumo could see that Kaori truly treated the effeminate man as a sister (just last month, he watched in amusement when the two of them tried to coax Kinoe to call them “mom”, but Kinoe called Kakashi’s name instead). Sakumo wondered whether the reverse was true, but he didn’t question and decided to look the other way. If Orochimaru liked his family, then Kaori and Kakashi would have other protectors if anything happened to Sakumo. Just like Kaori mentioned, Sakumo has Jiraiya and Kaori has Orochimaru, they had two sannins on their corner. 

On the other hand, Kakashi has become  _ easier _ to approach. Long gone his cold stare, silence and petulance glance, Kakashi now able to show proper emotion and was able to laugh and tease Sakumo back. With his tender age, he has more jutsu and did taijutsu better than Sakumo was when he was five. His speed has potential, just 5 years old and already as fast as good chuunin's level. With further training it could be terrifying. Sakumo was glad for Kaori’s tutelage, because Sakumo could now focus on the shinobi side of the teachings: summoning Animal Spirits and Kenjutsu, which he planned to do right after Kakashi entered the Academy. 

Sometimes Sakumo worried he had nothing to teach his son by the time Kakashi was ten. He could see his son growing leaps and bounds and he definitely would overcome Sakumo in the near future. Yet his son still looked up to him. Kaori always reminded him how proud Kakashi was of his father. And that drove Sakumo to keep himself up, to be the best version he could be, so Kakashi could keep looking up at him. 

His son also learned to make friends, keeping himself from lording over the other kids (Sakumo knew how easy it was for his genius son to look down on his peers). Kakashi was also able to overcome his sibling jealousy over Kinoe and became a good big brother. Kakashi also put his parents in the highest regards--the boy was way more respectful to them compared to before (although Sakumo could see Kakashi preferred his mother more, and he wouldn’t blame his pup for it). Sakumo could see his son was growing as a mentally healthy child because Kaori was there to guide him, teaching him good moral compass with strong principal to back it up. 

She was truly their cornerstone. 

His missions might have kept him from his family, but every time he came back, he felt closer to them. He was reminded how easy it was to lose this, to lose them: Kaori’s fragility and Kakashi’s child naivety. He wanted to wake up to his wife’s smiling face each day. He wanted more children to spoil and guide and love. As long as he has them, he would be fine. Sakumo wanted to lock his family inside a place nobody else could reach, just them. Sakumo knew Jiraiya laughed at him for being so whipped and yet, Sakumo couldn’t find shame in it.

They were his everything and he would be damned if he didn’t tell himself that everyday. That’s why he was reluctant to be the Hokage. Aside from pride, respect, and achievement, being a hokage would change everything. There would be increase in danger and potential assassination attempts. Sakumo knew Kakashi could defend himself, but Kaori was physically weak and might not survive the attempts. Sakumo still had not forgotten when she had an episode from his fight with Orochimaru. Despite what she said, he knew it was because of the KI exposure. Too fragile, he couldn’t risk it. That day, Orochimaru told him about the things he did for her operation, especially for her chakra. She was basically as fragile as a civilian, and even worse her body was broken from being shinobi trained. One little drop of poison could kill her. Could he risk that for Konoha? 

_ No _ , his mind supplied,  _ pack before anything else.  _

Now Sakumo woke up with a clear head, fully rested body, and the will to actually wake up and face the day. His missions were hard, but the thought of Kaori and Kakashi (and  _ Kinoe  _ and  _ Orochimaru _ , lately) expecting him home soon made the day bearable. Her cooking became his incentive to go back to Konoha faster, so he could come back home. To Kaori, to Kakashi. To the home-cooked food on the table. To his pack. 

The space beside him was rather cold. Kaori must have woken up long ago and made breakfast, like usual. It was a frightening thing to realise that he has become so complacent inside his house, with Kaori, that he didn’t even wake up when she left the bed. In the wild, that would be his death. Yet Sakumo couldn’t be bothered to care as he put on some pants and sweater before coming out of the room. 

Sakumo was welcomed with the nice sight of full breakfast on the table, Kaori feeding the smallest member of the family and Kakashi eating as fast as he could. 

“Tou-chan, quick, please. I am going to be late.” Kakashi’s deadpan greeting made him chuckle. 

Yes, today was his son’s first day in the Academy. As much as Kakashi tried to hide it, he knew how excited his pup was. After quickly refreshing himself in the bathroom, Sakumo took his seat beside Kaori. Kakashi looked impatient, making Sakumo want to drag the time even longer just to tease his little pup. Kaori gave him a warning glance though, so Sakumo quickly finished his food. Sakumo was definitely proud of his son, and showed it by ruffling his son’s messy soft silver hair and gave Kaori a kiss on the cheek. He then kissed Kinoe too, because the little man looked at him as if waiting for his turn. What a wonder. Sakumo has a second son without realising it. 

To be honest, Sakumo worried that the excitement wouldn’t stay too long for his pup, afterall, Kakashi was a genius and with all his learning speed under Sakumo’s own tutelage, Kakashi already reached last year's Academy's level. The novelty of being in the Academy would be short, but Kaori was adamant Kakashi would still enjoy the Academy because it was where his friends were. Sakumo tended to believe his wife on that--she knew them better. 

When they finally arrived in the Academy, there were other parents too. Kaori introduced him to several other parents--notably the parents of his son’s park friends. He congratulated all of them for being accepted into the Academy and told them to learn everything --because they were shinobi that would protect their Village. Sakumo knew it was a bit thick, forcing the Village propaganda; but the war was still going and he wouldn’t want to see his son’s generations become cannon fodder on the frontline because they didn’t learn the basics properly. Sakumo especially told them how Gai would be a force to reckon to--for his determination and hard work, making the usually silent kid smile and shouted loudly about his excitement. 

Kaori looked like she couldn’t let Kakashi go. She squatted in front of their first son, grabbing Kakashi’s shoulder. Sakumo watched it fondly while keeping Kinoe in his arms. 

“Remember, Kakashi. Be good.” 

“Un.” 

“Don’t forget to eat your lunch.” 

“Un.” 

“I brought you some apple slices too, please share it with your friends.” 

“Un.”

“Listen to your teacher. You can ask me later if you don’t understand anything.” 

“Un.” 

“Kaa-chan will be here when you finish class. I love you. We love you.” 

“Un.”

“Kaori,” Sakumo touched her shoulder. 

She trembled a bit before kissing Kakashi’s forehead and letting their son go. Kakashi looked like he didn’t want his mother to let him go, but then he turned to Sakumo and he gave Kakashi his best assuring smile. 

“Do your best, Kakashi. We are proud of you.” Sakumo smiled. Kaori nodded beside him, eyes shining dangerously. Sakumo gathered her in his arm, kissing the crown of her head. Kakashi nodded at them, shook Kinoe’s little hand goodbye, and then turned to enter the Academy. 

Sakumo sighed as Kinoe silently watched his big brother walking away and let Kaori cry on his shoulder. 

“I… I don't …” Kaori sobbed. “It’s just, my baby is grown… and they will teach him how to…  _ kill _ .” 

Sakumo felt old when he realised that his wife didn’t want to lose Kakashi’s innocence. It almost made him wince. He didn’t want it either, but they were at war, and it was Kakashi’s own wish. “I am sorry, Kaori.” 

“No. This is not your fault, hubby. It’s them. It’s the system.” Kaori gathered herself and wiped her eyes. She was still the most beautiful woman for him, despite wearing no make up and eyes red from crying. They walked slowly and Sakumo let her stew in her angst, while keeping an arm on her. 

Suddenly she stopped walking, so Sakumo stopped too and turned to her. She looked at him determinedly. 

“Promise me, husband.” 

“Hmm?”

“Whatever happens, you will keep him from joining ROOTS.”

“...What do you mean?” Sakumo questioned back. He was ANBU, so he knew about ROOTS. But it was the most secretive part of ANBU, and was disbanded half a year ago by Hokage-sama himself. Kaori shouldn’t know what ROOTS was since she was not even a chuunin before she retired. 

… Except maybe Orochimaru had told her about it. Or was it Shimura Danzo?

“Never let him join ROOTS. Or ANBU before he is ready.” Kaori repeated, firmly. “Promise me that, Sakumo. Promise me.” 

Sakumo finally relented. He still had lots of questions, but he wanted to keep her content. “I promise.” 

“And I’ll take care of the rest. I won’t let you down.” Kaori gritted her teeth, staring at Sakumo with determination deep inside her eyes. 

Probably Sakumo needed to question her further. Why and how she knew about ROOT. Yet in the end, Sakumo didn’t do it, which he regretted much later when everything went shit. 

* * *

That afternoon, I fetched my pup from the Academy with Kinoe in my arms. When Kakashi came out from the building, his eyes scanned the gate and found us. His eyes crinkled in smile--his mouth was covered with his mask--and waved at us. Behind him, Gai, Genma and Asuma followed. 

My son talked a hundred words per second as he explained what happened. He got into the same class with Gai, Genma and Asuma. Obito was in the class above him. They had basic taijutsu class (boring), mathematics (quite interesting), history class (they were boring and unlike the stories you told me, Kaa-chan) and writing class (boring). He shared his food with his friends, and they shared theirs too. There were girls in his class (annoying) and the teacher (Yamanaka Toshiro-sensei) was alright. Kinoe wriggled from my arms and asked for his big brother, so Kakashi ended up grabbing Kinoe’s hand and walked slower. 

Sakumo was roped into meeting with the Hokage, but he returned in the afternoon looking tired but excited about Kakashi’s first day. We spent the afternoon listening (again and again) about Kakashi’s first day, excitement in the air. I made them some snacks, while Sakumo took my son to the dojo and taught him the Animal Summoning. I watched in amazement when Kakashi managed to call his first ninken, which he immediately called him ‘Pakkun’ because it was a pug. We celebrated it by having dinner outside, in the Akimichi barbeque again. I would worry about the budget later. 

When we finally got Kinoe and Kakashi to sleep (he asked for the Bijuu story. Sakumo watched me strangely as I read it out to him, especially when he realised I was the author of the said story), I heated up some water and made two cups of weak tea for Sakumo and I. 

He watched me closely from the sofa. 

“Here, Hubby.” I gave him his cup (Konoha’s greatest daddy) and sipped on mine. 

“Thank you,” he thanked me and settled as my back rest. He looked into the tea and then to me. 

“Did you write that story about the bijuu?” 

“...Uhm. What do you mean? I wrote a story about tooth fairies. Why?” I asked, my heart rate starting to spike. “Didn’t I tell you about it?”

“My apology, I wasn’t paying attention to the whole content. I thought … well. It’s just that book was also mentioned in the meeting today.” 

“Oh?” I held my breath and pretended to be innocent. “What did they say? My editor said it should be fine...?”

“The topic was rather sensitive.” My husband continued. “The Hokage mentioned he has strongly reprimanded the author… Did anyone call you?”

Oh. 

That meant the scary warning note was from the Hokage. So I lied. “...I don’t think so, hubby. Did you tell them about me?”

“I wasn’t really aware that you were the author, and you didn’t use your usual pen name, so I contributed nothing to the discussion on that topic. But the council was quite adamant we restrict the storybook. Nara-sama is on it.”

“Hmm, I don’t mind. I have already gotten the royalty anyway,” I shrugged. “And the story was just that--storybook. There is nothing bad about it, I guess.” 

Sakumo just hummed at me, and drank his tea in full. I processed the information. Nara was the PIC, so he must have sent the ANBU to warn me. Not my husband’s team too, otherwise he would already know about me writing the story. But they definitely had reprimanded the publishing company. I guessed my editor wouldn’t be as lenient as she was now. 

“So,” I tried to change the discussion. I felt bad because now I couldn’t be as honest as I usually did. “How’s the… Hokage business?”

“Sarutobi-sama planned to make the decision soon with the council's agreement. After that, he would need to acquire the Daimyo’s blessings.”

“Sakumo, Hubby.” I turned to him and put my mug on the table. “I…”

“... Can you run through me first, any ideas for your next book?” Sakumo suddenly cut me. “I don’t want to repeat this kind of mistake. It’s dangerous, Kaori. You could be detained by the T&I.”

“I… I thought, we have the freedom in speech…? It’s just some stories anyway?”

“Not if it’s too sensitive for the public. We are still at war and we are in a military village. Just, please… this worries me very much.” 

“Is it because you don’t want to ruin your chance to be Hokage?” I tried to deflect from the topic. 

“No, damn it!” Sakumo scowled. I immediately shut my mouth. He closed his eyes and groaned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you, Kaori. It’s not like that. I don’t care about the position, you know that.” 

“I am sorry too.” I apologised back, because I knew it was my fault. “I didn’t mean to say that, Sakumo.” 

“You are playing with fire, Kaori. Orochimaru, Danzo-sama, now this book. Nara-sama is not someone you play with.… I don’t like this.”

“I am sorry, Sakumo. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

We fell into silence. I gently touched his face and he smiled wryly at me. I smiled back, kissing his cheek. I felt the need to reassure my husband. So I nodded and gathered Sakumo into my arms. “I am sorry,” I whispered again. 

“I know.” my husband replied and hid his face on my neck. I could feel his lips moving on my clavicle. 

“... I don’t like fighting with you.” I whispered. “I don’t want us to fight.” 

“I don't want to fight either. But we need to discuss this. I don’t know what I’ll do without you, Kaori.” he whispered. “I hate to be an overbearing husband, but please. I really don’t want to lose you, any of you.” 

“I understand, Sakumo.” I whispered back, rubbing his neck. 

“I am always reminded how easy it is to lose this.” his voice cracked. “I can’t. I am the White Fang, I know I am feared, but  _ these _ ? These I cannot control. Please stop being careless and playing with danger like this, Kaori. … I am  _ scared _ .” 

The last word barely registered in my head even though he was whispering right beside my ear. I closed my eyes and let him fent on me. “I am sorry to worry you. I promise I will be better...”

He hugged tighter and I let him, while my hand kept stroking his hair. 

“Everything will be fine.” I whispered. I  _ would _ make it fine.

* * *

In the end, Sakumo carried me to bed, and while we didn’t make love that night, I felt closer to my husband than ever. I had him in my arms, skin on skin, his body heat kept mine, kissing his forehead and hair, whispering my love to him until he settled and fell asleep. His scent enveloped me, his arms circled my body like a wolf who wouldn’t let go.

I was not ready to let him go. I didn’t want to let him go. I didn’t want to see him suffer. He was too kind of a man. I didn’t want him to get hurt. But I knew the fateful mission would be soon, because Kakashi had entered the Academy. The timeline would follow, if I didn’t do anything about it. 

That night, I refused to sleep. I kept thinking about my decision of whom I must tell about the Narutoverse script, and how. I needed to keep my husband, my family, safe. No matter what. Even if it meant I would be changing the plot.

* * *

In the end, I didn’t make the decision. I was forced to. 

Sakumo was called for a mission a week after that. After sending Kakashi to the Academy, I returned home with Kinoe to find my husband preparing for a mission. He told me it would be a short mission, and he brought a team with him. I watched him collect and prepared more weapons than usual into his pack. He looked solemn, before hugging me for a longer time than usual. And when he wore the mask, I knew it must be the mission. 

I put Kinoe down because my legs felt weak. I could feel my face drained of blood. No. Please no. Please. I was not ready. 

“Please don’t go.” I choked. 

“...This is a very important mission, Kaori.” he smiled at me. 

“No, please.” I begged. “No, not this one. Let someone else do it.” 

“Kaori?” Sakumo looked at me with worry. “Is everything alright?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t feel well, can you take a leave and stay with me instead?” 

Sakumo sighed. “I know you are well. I cannot refuse this mission, love. I am sorry.” 

“...Alright. But please let me prepare some bento first. So you can take it with you.” 

“I can’t take it, I am sorry. I need to go now and I cannot bring bulky stuff…”

“Then, please let me prepare some onigiri? Please? I don’t want you to be hungry.” I kept begging him. He looked at me and finally nodded. I ran to the kitchen and opened the rice cooker, which has leftover rice from breakfast. I quickly washed my hand and prepared the onigiri, simple with little pickle and salmon pieces in it. Then I took a piece of note and wrote, ‘ _ We love you no matter what. Please come back safely. _ ’ and put it between the two onigiris before wrapping them up with plastic wrap. 

I hoped this was enough. 

Meanwhile, Sakumo sat on the floor with Kinoe babbling at him. I gave the onigiris to him and he thanked me with a kiss, then kiss Kinoe’s forehead before leaving. 

Immediately I ran to the bedroom and took my script, then hid it underneath my top. I wrapped Kinoe in front of my chest (he was getting too big for it, but he didn’t seem to mind me carrying him around), and dashed out of the house. I just needed to get some help for Sakumo. I should tell someone who could do something about it. I was ready to open my cards. 

However, as I walked quickly towards the Hokage tower, I felt someone following me. I couldn’t sense chakra, but I knew a shinobi tailed after me. I didn’t know whether it was ANBU or ROOT, so I quickened my pace, trying to keep myself in between the crowd, avoiding the deserted shortcuts. 

But before I could reach the Hokage tower, an ANBU/ROOT dropped in front of me. The shinobi was wearing a Tiger Mask. he reached out for me and I flinched back, ready to run. He was quicker and pulled me to him, but at that moment, suddenly his hand was wrapped in thin tree branches with bright green leaves. The branches suddenly squeezed tight and made him pull away. 

I looked down to see Kinoe blinking his eyes on me. 

“Thank you, baby.” I whispered and quickly turned back to run. I managed to get into the market, where there were more passers-by to hide between. I was panicking by now, because I didn’t know where to run. But luck would have it, I ran onto a man who was built like a brick wall. I fell back onto the road, but I covered my baby and the script between us. 

I looked up and saw Jiraiya with Minato. 

“I am sorry! Are you alright… Kaori?” Jiraiya asked before he recognised me. “Are you alright?”

I stared at them. 

“Ah! Kaori-san! Sensei, you know her?” Minato asked Jiraiya. 

“Of course, she is Sakumo’s wifey.” Jiraiya cackled while helping me stand up. “I am sorry I bumped into you. Is your baby alright?” 

“Sakumo-san? You mean, Hatake-san?” Minato asked Jiraiya for confirmation. The man nodded. I watched them impatiently. Maybe this was the sign. I needed to tell them about Sakumo’s mission as well as my knowledge. 

“Jiraiya-san.” I spoke out. “I… I need your help.” 

“Oh? You sure? After you scream at me for being a bad teammate?” he raised his eyebrow. 

I felt myself twitching. Damn. I hated this man. I needed to calm down. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him after all. 

“Kaori-san, is there anything I can help?” Minato’s pretty smile assured me. “If you don’t mind me, of course?”

“Ye..yes.” I nodded. “Please hide me. An… An ANBU has been following me around.” 

“What?” Jiraiya suddenly asked seriously. “Are you sure?”

“He wears the Tiger mask. He almost caught me, but I managed to run.” 

Jiraiya looked at me skeptically, and then asked, “Where’s Sakumo?” 

“He left for a mission this morning.” I answered. “Please, Jiraiya-san. Please hide me.” 

They looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded at me. 

* * *

In the end, they took me to Minato’s apartment. It was on the other side of the town, on the public shinobi housing area. The apartment was small, a 6 tatami room with an unmade bed on the side, and scrolls everywhere. 

“Sorry about the mess.” Minato sheepishly tried to collect some of the scrolls. “I wasn’t expecting any guests.” 

“Ah, please pardon me for coming without prior notice.” I answered back out of politeness. I took off my sandals and went inside, then opened the wrappings so I could let Kinoe out. My mokuton baby blinked like an owl and started to walk around. Minato and Jiraiya sat across me, Jiraiya’s huge body filled the 1 room apartment immediately. 

“I didn’t know you have another son already.” Jiraya noted. 

“Oh. Kin… Tenzou’s Orochimaru-san’s son.” 

“Orochimaru!?” both Jiraiya and Minato looked shocked. “ _ SON _ !?”

“Yes, Oro-san trusts me to care for his son.” I called for my mokuton baby. “Baby, please come here. Pardon me, but do you have water, Minato-san? I think Tenzou need to drink some water.” 

Minato just nodded and came back with a glass of water. I pulled my baby onto my lap and let him drink the water, although because the glass was too big for his mouth, water dribbled from his chin. I quickly wiped it with my sleeves.

“Ah. Thank you, Minato-san, Jiraiya-san. I… I am sorry for intruding.” 

“It’s alright, ma’am.” Minato smiled politely. “May I ask why you have ANBU following you?” 

“Please call me Kaori.” I hesitated before answering, “I wrote a storybook about… about the nine Tooth.” 

Jiraiya looked surprised and immediately stared at me. I guessed he already knew which book I was talking about. “What made you write it?” 

I pretended to play with my baby to avoid their eyes. 

“Sometimes I dreamt about things. I have a wild imagination, you see, and I remembered what I saw. I saw the nine teeth, so I wrote it down and published it.”

“So… it’s just your imagination?” Jiraiya asked. “Why would ANBU follow you then?”

“Because the Hokage believes it is actually about bijuu and their jinchuuriki.” 

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. 

“...Was that why your son called Kushina the Fox Lady?” Minato suddenly spoke. “How…?” 

Jiraiya looked at his student in surprise, then turned at me. “How come a civilian like you know about bijuu and jinchuuriki?” 

“I knew things I shouldn’t. Please don’t tell my husband. He.. he worries too much.” I quickly added, “And my body is weak, I won’t survive the T&I. So please keep this information to yourself.”

“Who are you?” Suddenly Jiraya asked, and I could feel an intense feeling from him. He was flaring his KI I guessed. I couldn’t tell much aside from the tension in the room. Suddenly Kinoe screamed and hid his face on my bosom. 

“Please stop scaring my child.” I glared back while keeping my son close to my body. 

“... Who are you?” Jiraiya asked again, but I could sense that his KI had gone. “Which Village spy are you?”

“I am not a spy, Jiraiya-san.” I huffed. “I was born and live my whole life in Konohagakure. I am Hatake Kaori, Sakumo’s wife and Kakashi’s mother. But I have no time for this. I need your help.” 

“What do you mean?” Minato was the one who asked, Kami blessed this sweet child. 

“My husband is currently going on a mission with his ANBU team--please don’t interrupt me--and it is an important mission. I don't really know details about the mission, but it will be sabotaged and rendered all his team members captured. My husband will be forced to fail the mission, and this failure will bring a great setback to the war. He will be very devastated and blame himself for this failure to the point of suicidal. So I beg of you, please help him. Please prevent the sabotage. Please help him finish this mission successfully. Please.” 

“...How do you know this?” 

“Do you know ROOT?” I asked instead, ignoring his question. Jiraiya paled, while Minato blinked. 

“What is ROOT, sensei?” Minato asked. Jiraiya shook his head. 

“ROOT has been disbanded.” Jiraiya stated, focusing on me. Minato decided to wait for our conversation before asking anymore. Smart child. 

I shook my head. “No, it hasn’t. Danzo-sama still directs ROOT, albeit in secret from the Hokage. Please don’t let them sabotage my husband’s mission. I cannot let him be hurt this way.” 

“What…?” Jiraiya stared in disbelief at me. 

“Please, Jiraiya-san. I believe my husband is your best friend. Please help him. I don’t care if you hate me because I still stand by my view that you should treat Oro-san better, but for Sakumo's sake, please help him.” I bowed as low as I could while sitting with Kinoe on my lap. 

“Why should I trust you?” Jiraiya asked me coldly. “ You realise you are accusing one of the council elders?”

“I know. I believe he is doing it based on his own reasons. I also know I have not given you much reason to believe me. But I promise you this: anything I do is purely for Sakumo and our family. Please. If you care about Sakumo, trust me.” 

“I still need to bring you to the Hokage right now, Kaori-san.” 

I kissed Kinoe’s forehead while contemplating the situation. My mokuton baby yawned cutely and pushed his face onto my chests. What should I do? Should I just tell the Hokage? But that would mean Danzo knowing about it too, sooner or later. I didn't know whether Sarutobi was strong enough to stand against his old teammates. And I still thought I could try and bring Danzo to common sense. 

“Jiraiya-san, are you aware that Sarutobi-sama and Danzo-sama were teammates?” 

“...Of course.” 

“Then would you say Sarutobi-sama might be a little bit… too lenient on his teammates?” 

“You dare to accuse Hokage of nepotism!?” 

“No, I am seeing Sandaime-sama as a human. Nobody is perfect, Jiraiya-sama. The God of Shinobi is a human too. Tell me, can you kill Oro-san, if you know the reason he strayed from the right path was because you left him?” 

Jiraiya didn’t answer me. I could see in his cold face, the deep fury actually based on worry. No matter what, they were a solid team. The three of them were special to each other. They wouldn’t be able to harm each other much; because the bond was too hard to break. From my point of view, Sarutobi and Jiraiya suffered from the same bias--because they knew they were guilty of leaving their teammates behind until they went to the wrong path. 

I questioned again, “On the other hand, have you ever wondered, why this war dragged for so long? Have you ever thought about how some… killings just happened conveniently when they did? Have you ever thought about why some of Konoha’s strategies became known to Iwa or Kumo?” 

“You are asking dangerous questions here, Kaori-san.” Jiraiya growled. “I’ll tread carefully if I am you.” 

I pursed my lips. The more he spoke, the more I disliked this selfish, self-righteous man. He dared to keep me from saving my husband? What a shit friend he was. I felt no remorse for what I said next. 

“Fine. How about this: I told you I know things I shouldn’t. I was content to keep it with me, but now my husband is in danger regardless of his wish. We are happy to just stay as a normal family. But you refuse the  _ seat _ and  _ recommend  _ him instead, sacrificing him onto the slaughter. This sabotage happens  _ exactly  _ because you recommend him as one of the candidates. You don’t have any  _ right  _ to question me, Jiraiya.” 

Jiraiya blanched. “...Don’t you dare to put the blame on  _ me _ ! Sakumo is a worthy candidate and you know it. ” 

“No, I don’t  _ know _ . You never see how he feels about his missions. You never see how it affects him. You never saw him down like I did. You don’t  _ love _ him like I  _ do _ . He is not a mindless perfect substitute you fancy him to be. My husband is too kind for that. He also has kids who depend on him too. And you carelessly sacrifice  _ him _ ,  _ us _ , because of your selfish wish to keep yourself ‘free’.” 

I saw how I needed to communicate with this man. He has no sense of impropriety, blinded by his current Sannin and single status. Not many dared to defy him, simply because he was a famously strong nin with close relation to the Kage. They let him go for a lot, from perversion to carelessness and disregards of politics. He truly was a selfish man who never cared to understand people’s POV. He was the kind of man who needed to be bludgeoned by blunt and harsh words. 

“Kaori-san… I think that may be too harsh.” Minato cut me. “I believe Jiraiya-sensei doesn’t mean to do that, Sakumo-san is truly one of the best Jounin in Konohagakure.”

“Nevertheless, if  _ your sensei _ truly respects himself and his own words and calls himself my husband’s best friend, then he owes Sakumo this, because of his  _ recommendation _ .” I snarled. “Every minute we waste is another minute of pain my husband will bear. I don’t care if I will be arrested or killed because of this. I can ask for help from others who won’t think himself too important to help his own ‘best friend’. So are you going to help or not?” 

Jiraiya looked at me for a long moment. 

“Don’t think I’ll forget your disrespect for me, woman. It’s for Sakumo’s sake that I trust you now.”

‘That’s all I need. I don’t need your respect anyway.’ I wanted to quip. But I knew I was too emotional, so I counted back from  _ Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One _ . “... Thank you for your cooperation, Jiraiya-san. I am indebted to you. Can you please keep my identity from spreading out? I don’t want this to affect my children.” 

I stared hard at him, trying to convey it out. ROOT was not something to play around with. If Danzo realised I had stopped him from sabotaging Sakumo, he might take my children next. 

Jiraiya seemed to get my message, “... I’ll see what I can do.” 

“Thank you, Jiraiya-san. That’s all I will ask of you.” 

* * *

In the end Jiraiya ordered Minato to stay with me, as a precaution against ANBU, while he checked and helped Sakumo. Because it might take more than a few days, I agreed to let Minato stay with us for a few days until Jiraiya could get back to me. I thanked both the teacher and the student, before noting that it was time for Kinoe’s lunch, so I asked Minato to come with me back to Hatake compound for lunch. I extended the offer to Jiraiya, but the man rejected the offer because he needed to rush. I guessed it was for the best anyway, because I didn’t think I could have a civil meal with him now, without Sakumo to buffer us. 

Minato brought his supplies and I offered a room in the boarding house. I let him settle while I returned my script under the bed and cooked lunch for three of us, which we ate in silence aside from Kinoe’s nonsensical babbling. Minato was a polite young man who complimented me on the food and tried to start a light chat. I wondered whether my cruel words made me look bad in front of the pretty genius, but I did not say anything I didn’t mean. As much as Minato loved his teacher, Jiraiya was not a perfect man. 

“My apology, Namikaze-san.” I smiled wryly. “I have hidden my identity as well as showing such impropriety in front of you. It’s nothing personal on you, per se.” 

The young (Chuunin? Has he got to Jounin yet?)--man smiled back. “Apology accepted, Kaori-san. Jiraiya-sensei tends to bring the worst out of us.” 

“Thank you for your understanding. You are a very polite, handsome young man, Namikaze-san. Please let me know if you need anything, I will gladly help.”

He blushed. “Ah, thank you, Kaori-san. Please call me Minato. Well, actually, can I ask you several things?”

“Please.” I nodded to him, while wiping Kinoe’s mouth with his favourite baby towel. 

“In your book, you mentioned how the Bijuu named Kurama, the nine tails, has a friend who hasn’t been born yet. Who is he, then?”

I held my breath. Should I tell him about his son? I settled for the general information. “Well, he is the next Jinchuuriki after Uzumaki Kushina-san.” 

“... What would happen to Kushina-chan?”

“Do you really want to know?” I asked back. “Knowing is not the same as accepting, Minato-san.” 

Minato paled, but his eyes firmly stayed at me. “... I think I want to know.” 

“... She gave birth to a baby and the bijuu slipped away during the process. Some… malicious party used that opportunity to control the Nine-Tails and created havoc. She died sealing the bijuu back to his next jinchuuriki.” 

Silence fell between us. Kinoe held out his spoon to me and I tried to catch it with my mouth. He squalled gleefully, happy because he spoon fed me like I did to him. I tried to assure myself Kinoe was fine, since he had used his power to help me this morning. I hoped he didn’t harm his developing chakra or something. 

“How do you know all this, Kaori-san?”

“Does it matter?” I shrugged. “Future is one thing. What matters is what we make of now.” 

“Like how you want to save Hatake-san’s mission?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Just like that.”

“I understand.” Minato smiled at me with his pretty boy smile. “...You truly love your family, don’t you?”

I smiled back. “Yes. They are everything for me.”

“Even for Tenzou? I mean, he is not really yours, right?”

“In all the way that matters, Tenzou is mine.” I took my baby’s small hand. “I am your Kaa-chan, right, baby?”

“Superior! Sperm!” Kinoe squealed to my horror, while Minato looked shocked before turning beet red. 

“I am sorry!” I apologised quickly and pulled Kinoe onto my lap. “Tenzou, don’t repeat the bad words, okay?” 

“Kaa!” he squealed and kissed my cheek. I melted. Damn it. How could I discipline my son like this. I was weak. 

Minato surprised me by laughing. I watched him laugh at me before he finally caught his breath and apologised. “I am sorry for laughing, Kaori-san. You came so strong and fierce against sensei, but you are so weak against your child. I … I am an orphan, Kaori-san. I don’t know parental love. But I always imagine… I wanted a mother like you.” 

Oh, child. I melted on the spot. Minato looked vulnerable and immediately tried to change the topic, but I could see it. I was thirty, and this child is barely fifteen. His hurt puppy look just made me want to baby him too. 

“I don’t mind, Minato-san. I may not be old enough to be your mother, but you can join my brood too.” 

Minato just flushed. I let him have his moment before checking the time. 

“It’s time to fetch my pup from the Academy, would you come with me?”


	14. In for a Penny, in for a Pound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breaking news. Also when words have consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some new OC.

Waiting was not my forte. It was excruciating days filled with anxiety and insomnia. I just couldn’t sleep at all, worrying about my husband while trying to relax on the bed that smelled like him. The first midnight, I ended up slipping into Kakashi’s room at midnight and slept on his chair. On the second night and onward, Kakashi let me sleep on his bed together after he caught me trying to slip in. Hugging my pup made me feel a bit better--I just wished this waiting would end soon. I didn’t like how my anxiety made my children restless too. It affected my work too, as I couldn’t write a single thing, and I didn’t clean the house. I still kept cleaning the boarding house, though but it seemed I really needed to hire someone full time for it. 

Jiraiya has yet to contact me, leaving me in limbo. I threw out my meal every single time and resorted to just biting sweet sugar cane sticks to keep me filled. I tried my best to wear my usual smile and keep my daily activities, but by day two, Kakashi already asked me whether I was alright eight times within a day. By the third day he almost refused to go to the Academy, wanting to stay with me and his baby brother in the house. I was lucky Minato was around and managed to persuade my pup, stating since he was around (the young Yondaime-would-be has just been promoted to Tokubetsu Jounin, tasked to stay in the village for some research), he could protect me and Tenzou better. 

Kakashi didn’t really take to Minato. At first, he took one look at Minato, called him Yellow-nii-san and ignored him for the first two days. When Minato told him he could protect Tenzou and me better, Kakashi immediately asked for a spar. Minato wiped the floor with him. Since then all Kakashi did was to ask for another spar. Minato was quite gracious about it, promising another spar for another day. 

That night, when Kakashi and Tenzou (since Minato only knew Kinoe as Tenzou, I decided to start using the name, while Kakashi has already used it anyway) had been put to bed, I served Minato a cup of weak tea and some biscuits, before apologising for Kakashi’s behaviour. My son, while a genius on his own right, still needed to learn how to accept losing. Losing to Sakumo and Orochimaru was fine, since both of them were much older and had established themselves as the best shinobi. But Minato was a new figure, nearer to Kakashi in age, and looked weak enough to beat with his pretty boy figure. 

Minato smiled at me and told me he didn’t mind. He was raised in the orphanage and before he graduated the Academy, he was the designated caretaker for the smaller children because of his calm nature. He knew a lot about kids and while not a natural caretaker type, he has enough experience with children. I found that the more I knew Minato, the more I liked this saint-like young man. He was truly, a good kid. A genius but not prideful. A calm and pragmatic boy. Not perfect, but damn near one. I was sure, with a bit of coaxing, my pup and Orochimaru would like Minato too. 

Thanks to Minato, the ANBU didn’t come again. They left me in peace. I was thankful for the good kid for staying in our compound and was glad he agreed to join my brood. I needed to convince my husband later, but that just reminded me of his current mission and it gave me even worse anxiety and stomach ache. I became practically useless by day four, unable to wake myself up from the sofa. Minato moved his research space to my living room, so the tables were filled with stacks of books and rolls. 

Orochimaru returned four days after Minato joined us in the Hatake Compound. Minato saw the Snake Sannin enter the living room, screamed a high pitched “Eeep!” and shunshin-ed so fast he left no leaves on the floor. Huh. I never knew that Minato was afraid of Orochimaru. 

My beautiful pseudo-sister then turned to me and raised his eyebrow. I was laying down on the couch chewing on mint leaves to keep my nausea down. I had been vomiting my breakfast and lunch, making me feel too weak to do anything. 

“...Who was that, Kaori-san?” 

“Ah, welcome back, Orochimaru-san.” I sighed. “He’s Jiraiya's student, Namikaze Minato, and he is staying with us for the moment.”

“Oh. Why is he here?” Orochimaru sat down on the other side of the sofa. “You don’t look good, shall I check on you?” 

“Thanks, Orochimaru-san. I don’t feel good, actually. I am just worried about Sakumo.”

Orochimaru raised his eyebrow, taking my hand to check on my heartbeat. I took in Orochimaru’s face and didn’t like what I saw. He looked pale and tired, hair not as shiny as when he left. His body and clothes were covered with road dust. I also saw stains of blood by his side, yet no visible open wound. He looked thinner, too. 

“You need to rest more,” “You need to eat more,” We both said at the same time. 

Silence ensued before we chuckled. 

“Go and have a bath first. I’ll make something for you.” I smiled, feeling better with a task on hand. “You look pale enough to haunt this house, Orochimaru-san.” 

“That makes the two of us,” he sighed. “How about a trip to the hospital for a thorough check up?”

“No, I don’t think it’s wise to leave the house for now.” 

His nice mood evaporated. “What happened? Where’s Kakashi and Kinoe?” 

“Kakashi started the Academy, while Kinoe is still in his room for his afternoon nap.” I assured him. “It’s… Sakumo. He left for a very important mission four days ago, and I have … I have this feeling that something is going to happen in this mission. I have asked Jiraiya-san’s help, and he ordered Minato-kun to stay with us while he helped Sakumo. I am just very worried about him, Oro-san. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.” 

“What makes you think so?” Orochimaru asked. 

“Kaa-chan, Tenzou, I am back!” Before I could answer, Kakashi opened the front door. I was surprised that he was home already. Since yesterday, he refused to have me fetch him back from the Academy. He was a big boy now, Kakashi stated, he didn’t need his mother to accompany him to and from the Academy everyday. 

While it was bittersweet to watch your kid grow up and need you less, it allowed me more time to rest--and fretted at home. 

Kakashi approached us. “You are back, Oro-san!”

Orochimaru smiled back and patted Kakashi’s soft hair. “Good to be back, pup.” 

Kakashi grinned and then snuggled beside me. “Do you feel better, kaa-chan?” 

“Yes, I do,” I lied. I kissed his hair. “Thank you, Kakashi. Go wash your hands. I’ll cook something for all of us. Also, please wake Tenzou and get Minato-kun too.”

“Un.” Kakashi shrugged and let me go, walking towards the bathroom. 

“About Sakumo…” Orochimaru continued, “What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later. You need to clean up first. Let me cook something for you.” I ignored the worry in his eyes and instead went to cook. I boiled a pack of udon with dashi and little fish balls, while also sliced some apples. A few minutes later, I was ready with a bowl of udon for Orochimaru and apples for the kids (including Minato). I also made some mint tea, as looking at food made me feel queasy now. The stomach bug I had just sapped all my appetite down. 

Orochimaru came out of the bath looking much better, with Kinoe in his arms. My Mokuton sapling looked a bit grumpy from waking up, but accepting his father’s offering of udon pieces. Kakashi joined us with Minato in tow. The young adult looked terrified, stealing glances at Orochimaru, but couldn’t take his eyes away when he saw Orochimaru feeding Kinoe his udon carefully. 

“I don’t have any mission for now.” Orochimaru suddenly spoke out. “I can ask the Hokage to let me chase after Sakumo-san.” 

“Are you sure? But I am not really sure about the mission details,” I frowned, taking the seat beside Orochimaru (The table of four was getting full, with Kakashi and Minato on the other side. Maybe it was time to upgrade the table). I knew I was a hypocrite. I didn’t want Orochimaru to get hurt. He was one of my family members too. I’d rather throw Jiraiya under the bus than Orochimaru. “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think…”

“I might be able to get it from the archive after I convince the Hokage.” Orochimaru murmured. “If your hunch is right and Sakumo is in trouble, then I should go.”

“I think Hatake-san should be fine. Jiraiya-sensei is on it.” Minato stopped Orochimaru’s murmur. 

“Why? Do you trust your teacher that much?” Orochimaru asked, eyes squinted with slow burning fury. 

Minato paled and back tracked. “...I mean… yes? Because he is Jiraiya-sensei.”

At that moment, a frog poofed from the air and landed on the table, right on the empty plate. The little red frog croaked in Jiraiya’s voice.  _ “Sakumo is safe and back. Mission is successful. Come to the hospital when you can.”  _

It felt like the single most amazing thing I have heard. I felt so relieved that I just lost all energy and my eyes blurred. I almost couldn’t breathe. Sakumo was safe. Mission successful. 

My husband was alright. 

That was the last thought I had before I lost my consciousness. 

* * *

When I woke up, I saw white ceiling (not my house then) and realised I was in the hospital. 

An IV line was hooked to my left. My body felt heavy and weak. I looked around to see Kakashi’s sleeping on my right side, while Kinoe was on my left, between my arms and my torso. They both were asleep, so I tried to not move my arms. I looked up to see Orochimaru sitting by our bed. 

“How do you feel?” he asked, voice soft and uncharacteristically worried. 

“I feel fine.” I smiled weakly. “Is this the hospital?”

“You scared us.” Orochimaru whispered. “You fainted.”

“Oh. I am sorry I made you worry. Where… where is my husband? Minato-kun?” 

“Jiraiya asked Minato to go with him. Sakumo just came out from the surgery,” My breath hitched. Sakumo was hurt! “Calm down, Kaori-san. He is fine. They managed to save him. He just needs to stay under observation until he fully heals.”

“What happened to him?” 

“He got stabbed with a kunai on the stomach. The operation was successful. No lasting damage, he just needs to rest.” 

I felt it was a simpler version of my husband’s actual wounds, but I didn’t chase further. As long as Sakumo was safe and his mission succeeded, which meant my husband wouldn’t be committing suicide. I felt Kakashi twitched when we heard Sakumo’s wound, so I slowly pulled my right arm and patted his back. 

“Kakashi, are you awake?”

“Un.” 

“Sorry to worry you.” I smiled, “Please let me see your face?”

My pup raised his head and I saw his eyes. They were afraid and tired. I felt bad for making him feel that. I smiled my best assuring smile, “I’ll be fine now, you don’t need to worry anymore, pup.” 

Kakashi looked away. 

“Hey, baby, come closer please? I cannot move too much, I want to kiss you.”

My first baby slowly climbed onto my shoulder side, and I put a kiss on his forehead. 

“Did you listen to Oro-san?” 

“Un.” 

“Did you help taking care of Kinoe?” 

“Un.” 

“Good job, Kakashi. I am proud of you.” 

Kakashi snuggled deeper into my neck. I turned to see Kinoe, now awake, looking at us. 

“Kinoe, come here, let me kiss you too?” 

My Mokuton Baby tilted his head before scrambling onto my other shoulder, imitating Kakashi. His legs kicked my IV line, but luckily it was not displaced. I chuckled and planted a kiss on his brown mane. 

“Did you listen to your brother?” 

Kinoe turned to see Kakashi and nodded. 

“Good boy. I am proud of you too, baby.”

Kinoe gave a small squeal and hid his face on my clavicle. Then I took a deep breath. 

“Thank you, Orochimaru-san.” 

The man peered at us with his slanted pretty eyes. Orochimaru still looked tired, but not as tired as he was when he returned from his mission. His smile was soft and I liked that on him. 

I was very surprised when the next moment, Orochimaru actually kissed my forehead. 

“I am glad you are alright.” he murmured and patted both boys on my arms. “Well, I think I’ll get the medics to check on you, now that you are awake.” 

He walked out and came back with a medic a few moments later, a tired looking middle aged woman with white coat. The lady sounded kind when she told me I fainted from lack of nutrient and also stressed, which was not good because it might affect the baby. So she asked me to stay a night for observation. 

I wanted to ask for my husband when I suddenly realised. 

“Baby? What baby?” I asked quickly. 

“You are pregnant, Kaori-san. Congratulations.” The lady smiled kindly. “From the initial check, it’s almost eight weeks old. You need to eat better and have more rest, as your body is still weak. I recommend a full check up, which I can set about a week from now, is it alright?”

Oh. 

What. 

Oh. 

I was  _ pregnant _ .  _ I _ was pregnant.  _ I was pregnant!  _

“Th..thank you. Where… Where is my husband?” 

“Hatake-san is on the after-care surgery wing. It’s better if you to go there tomorrow, as it’s already late and you need to rest. If you want, your kids can stay here too, I’ll get the permission from the admin later.” 

“Thank you.” I nodded and she walked out of the room. I turned to Orochimaru. “I am pregnant! Oro-san, we are having a baby!” 

He was surprised when I said it, but immediately chuckled. “Finally. Congratulations.” 

“Am I going to have a little sister, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi asked, voice small behind the mask. 

__

I grinned happily and kissed his hair. “Yes. Are you happy?” 

“Un.” he shrugged, but his cheeks were flushed a bit. “It’s alright I guess.” 

I ended up sleeping with Kakashi on my side. Orochimaru took Kinoe home, after promising to come back early tomorrow morning. Kakashi refused to go home, preferring to stay with me. We managed to sleep together between us, and it was the best sleep I had in days. 

Everything felt so good, it felt like christmas. 

* * *

I was discharged the day after, and Orochimaru pushed my wheelchair towards Sakumo’s recovery wing. Kakashi excused himself from the Academy, walking beside my wheelchair while holding Kinoe’s hand. The hospital was busy as always yet Orochimaru expertly maneuvered the wheelchair around like he knew the place. Probably because any active field shinobi must have spent time in hospital at least once. 

I was pushed into a room with three beds separated by blue curtains. My husband was sleeping on the innermost bed beside the window. He looked pale, his body patched up with bandages. But aside from the bandages, he was perfectly alright, no severed limbs. Orochimaru parked me on Sakumo’s bedside, so I could touch his hand. 

My husband’s hand was dry but  _ warm _ .  _ Alive _ .

I pulled it and kissed his fingers. It felt good to be able to touch him again. All the worry and suspense just wore me down. I just felt tremendous relief washed over me. 

Ah, I made it. Sakumo was alive. His mission was fine. He wouldn’t be the pariah. He wouldn’t be ostracized by Konoha villagers. He would still be happy and alive. Kakashi wouldn’t lose his father. They were going to be fine. We were going to be fine. And we were going to have a baby. The Hatake Clan wouldn’t end with Kakashi as the sole member. My baby wouldn’t be lonely. 

Maybe it was hormones, maybe it was relief. I just cried. Wet tears wetting Sakumo’s hand. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

A hand grabbed my shoulder and gently squeezed. 

“He is going to be fine, Kaori-san.” Orochimaru's soothing voice lulled me back to reality. “I’ll get the kids to the cafeteria for breakfast, do you want to stay instead?”

I nodded and thanked him with my embarrassingly croaking voice. Kakashi initially refused to go, but I told him to go and have breakfast with Orochimaru-san. I promised him I would still be there when he came back. 

It was a bad promise. 

Because the moment Orochimaru took my children and closed the door behind him, an ANBU stood behind me and grabbed me away with shunshin. 

* * *

When the ANBU let me go, I fell onto the floor from nausea. It felt like seasickness. But since I had nothing in my stomach, I vomited empty bile juices onto the floor. Huh. The floor was not the concrete I always imagined T&I would have. It was actually tatami mats.

Someone pulled me up and let me sit on a backrest chair. A cup of warm tea appeared in front of me, and I took it with thanks. The first taste left me a bit of sweet aftertaste. Probably poison or something. Was it safe for me to drink? Considering I was pregnant... 

“It’s just sweet tea, Hatake-san. We are aware of your condition.” 

A new voice. I looked up to see Jiraiya and someone that looked like a Nara. at least, with the hairstyle. The room was a traditional tatami room, with a desk between us and three cups and a pot of tea. 

“Take your time. We have lots to discuss.” 

“Thank you for your kind hospitality,” I sighed. “What would you like to know… Nara-sama?” 

“I don’t believe we have met.” 

“We haven’t. I just assume, since you look like a Nara.”

“Really? What does Nara look like?” 

Uhm. I couldn’t really say anything, because in this life, I have zero interaction with Ino-Shika-Cho. All my son’s friends were Uchiha, Sarutobi and small clans children/orphans. It looked like I dug my own grave. 

“.... All of you look smart? And intimidating?” 

Jiraiya guffawed, “And I don’t?” he asked. 

“Glad that you are aware of that.” I quipped, but immediately closed my mouth. Damn, it was not the time to be petty. Jiraiya had saved Sakumo, afterall. “...My apologies, Jiraiya-san. I have yet to thank you for your help. I am very much indebted.” 

Jiraiya didn’t answer and the good mood disappeared from the room. I drank my tea again. “...As much as I like to chat, I’d rather return to my husband’s side. It’s my duty as his wife to stand vigil…”

“How do you know ROOT?” Nara cut me off. Actually I didn’t know his name. Judging by the timeline and the age of Nara in front of me, he must be Nara Shikaku’s father. But I didn’t remember his name. 

“Isn’t it rude not to introduce yourself?” I smiled politely. “May I ask whom I am speaking with?”

“Do you realise the only reason you are not in T&I is because of Jiraiya’s request?” he asked sharply. “You don’t have any right to demand anything, ma’am.” 

“Oh of course I do. It’s your duty to be polite, Nara-sama. We are all civilised people after all.”

He stared at me, so I stared back. I knew I was trying to tempt danger by being so insolent, yet I was feeling weirdly brave. “... Nara Shikaen, Jounin Commander, at your service.” 

“Well met, Nara-sama. Hatake Kaori, nice to meet you.” 

“Now that we have established ourselves as civil, let’s get back to the discussion. How do you know about ROOT?”

“...Danzo sama proposed to me.” I looked down onto my hands, counting to calm myself down. 

“What did he propose to you? And what about ROOT? You are not an active shinobi anymore.” 

“I am a civilian now, Nara-sama. Danzo-sama offered to help me with my ruined chakra, but I rejected the offer since my family didn't care if I had functional ones and I have learned to live with my… disabilities.” 

“And how is that related to ROOT?”

“... Was it ROOT who wanted to sabotage my husband’s mission?” I asked back. “Tell me, Jiraiya-san, Nara-sama. Was it ROOT?” 

Their faces were as blank as an empty canvas. I couldn’t read anything from their face. 

Shikaen scowled. “I am the one who is supposed to be questioning you, Hatake-san.” 

“I just don’t see the point.” I asked back. This time I knew I had crossed the line, but well, I was already neck deep in trouble, why not? “I was born and live all my life in Konoha. Ever since I woke up from my coma a year ago, I never had any contact with foreign shinobi or set foot outside this Village. Also, as you may know, aside from being pregnant, I am also on strict observation because my body cannot withstand too much pain or any poisons of any sort. I’ll die from liver failure, which I won’t let you because my family will be sad. So, instead of you asking me why I know, of which anything I told you would still be treated as if I lied, even though I spoke the truth, why not work together instead? I can tell you what to expect, and you can prepare accordingly. Win-win solution.” 

“Ch. so troublesome.” Nara grumbled. I almost smiled. That was so cliche, a Nara’s catchphrase! 

Well, now I needed to offer them some other information to make them believe that I was more useful alive. The Second Shinobi War… was synonymous with my husband’s failure, my husband killed Sasori’s parents, and the rise of three founders of Akatsuki. “Nee, Jiraiya-san. Have you … have you met Nagato yet?”

“How…!?” Jiraiya looked surprised. From his face, I assumed he has. 

“Then, please take care of them. They need you to look after them, especially with Hanzo’s dreadful reign. Those kids just want peace. Please do not let them stray. You can bring them to Konoha too, while learning. It might not be safe for them to stay in Ame at the moment. Ah, but please do be careful. The Uchiha clan won’t be happy with Rinnegan on an Uzumaki.” 

“Rinnegan!? Uzumaki? What…?” Jiraiya paled. 

Meanwhile, Shikaen grumbled. “... Why shouldn’t I kill you now?”

“Well, you can, of course. But if you kill me, then you’ll get no information.” I shrugged. “May you please kindly wait until this baby is born before ending me?”

Shikaen facepalmed. Looked like I succeeded in establishing my usefulness, so they wouldn’t kill me before getting as much information as possible. “ _ Troublesome  _ woman _. _ ...Yamanaka Inomaru will be here soon to mindwalk you.” 

Uhm. that might be a problem. I wasn’t sure how that would work. Would it harm me, as I didn’t have chakra? But if that helped them to marginally trust me, I was open to it. “As long as you can ensure no harm done to my child, I am amenable to Inomaru-san’s mindwalk.” 

Inomaru came just a few moments after, as if he was waiting outside the room to be called. He was, in one word, a beautiful man in different ways from Orochimaru-san. He explained abit about what he would so, and I nodded since I actually knew the gist of it, but hadn't had a clue of how that work. 

He made the hand seals and I felt his mind entering mine. I saw him in my head. He asked to check my memory, which apparently presented on scrolls. The more he checked, the more I felt relieved. He could only see Kaori’s old memories and my memories within the year I arrived in Narutoverse. Since this body was Kaori’s, its mind space also linked only to the memories in which the body itself have, and so me, as the uninvited guest, had nothing to share. 

The only suspicious thing was the way I presented myself in the mind space. I was still my old self, wearing comfy old jeans and an oversized sweater. I didn’t look like Kaori that much, since we had different hair and eye colours. Inomaru watched me, so I smiled back. 

“ _ Why are you presenting yourself differently in your mind space?” _ he asked. 

I bullshited my way through. 

“ _ Because I am who I am, Inomaru-san.”  _

Inomaru finally left my mind space and signed to Shikaen. I watched them with interest, they did have their own sign language. Was it Ino-Shika-Cho specific, ANBU, or Jounin code? 

Shikaen sighed so deeply, “...I don’t know where your loyalty is at.” 

“My loyalty is with my family.” I kept my smile. “As long as they are fine, I won’t trouble you, Nara-sama.” 

“You are already throwing stones left and right. Your bijuu storybook created a wave of unrest within the council.” 

I wanted to fight for freedom of speech and the works; but this was a military village and I was a hair breadth away from being jailed or killed. It might be not the best time to be a smart arse. 

“My apologies, Nara-sama. I just want to let the world know that Bijuu are not monsters; they have names and hobbies too. It’s just rude to assume they are mindless pets. Afterall, being locked inside a jail for more than hundred of years can affect everyone badly. Have you tried, probably, just talk with them?” 

Jiraiya guffawed, “Talk? Like what you are doing now?” 

“Yes, I supposed.” I nodded. My adrenaline rush hit my head, “They are very intelligent and quirky. Very cute, I believe.” 

“Bijuu? Cute!?” Inomaru squawked. “What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with  _ you _ ?” I asked instead. In for a penny, in for a pound. “Have you ever asked what they want? Who they were? Are you sure they would be the Village’s ‘weapon’? Anyone who has been jailed against their wish will have no reason to help defend the Village, you see.

But that aside, I wish to bring you on other matters, such as how the Village viewed military strength as your absolute. I understand the need for strong defense and offense in case of attack, but we are supposed to be in a peaceful time, are we not? This cold war started because of uneven distribution of economy--in which Konoha monopolised most of the missions and left smaller villages with nothing. Well, instead of actually spending resources and wars, why not do the other thing? We could export Hashirama-trees in exchange for Suna’s glass, or exchange our crops with exotic fruits from Kumo.

You know, shinobi like my husband, the Hatakes, used to be farmers. Why don’t we return to our roots? I know my husband would prefer to be a farmer instead of becoming the Hokage. No offense, but I heard the paperwork was to die for. That aside, instead of letting our men die in the battlefield, why don’t you allow other non military missions? We can offer our medic services to smaller villages, doton to open rice fields, or use a suiton to take the overflowing water from our river and sell them to Suna? Let them take the redundant or the smaller missions--we take the productive kinds. Chakra has so many uses, it was a shame it only used to kill. Less resource, no one dies, and still profitable. Power isn’t always synonymous with the military, you see. Because in the end, what are you trying to protect? There is no village without her villagers.”

I took a sip from my refilled cup. The room was silent for a moment. 

“Your arrogance knows no bounds.” Nara raised his eyebrows at me. “You talk like you know everything. What are you implying?”

I blushed from mortification. Damn. I talked too much. I knew I was very arrogant in my knowledge. I hated inefficiency and the way current Konoha did things was too redundant. Instead of educating the children how to punch people twelve ways to Sunday, why not also teach them how to do agriculture with their suiton too? 

“My apologies. I don’t assume I know everything, Nara-sama. It’s absurd to believe one to know everything. But from what I know, I have formed my opinion, and I am open for sharing and discussion.” 

“How do you know all this? How long have you been thinking about it?” Inomaru asked.

“Would you believe if I say I see it in my dreams?”

He looked interested. “Are you a clairvoyant?” 

“... I don’t think so. I see snippets and stuff, but when I linked them, they just made sense.” 

“And you dare to question the ways of our Village?”

“Why not? Keep asking why and we will get innovation. Stay silent, and nothing would change. I know what I prefer.” 

Silence fell. I waited for their next question. I was already in too deep. I wondered if I did this kind of thing under military rule in my reality, like North Korea for example, I wouldn’t survive tomorrow. I would be under the knife, my organs harvested without anesthesia. 

But was I afraid? Wouldn’t death be the next great adventure? I would be leaving my family, but I guessed they could survive without me. Now Sakumo was still alive and not ostracized by the Village, he would be able to guide Kakashi. Orochimaru could take care of Kinoe. The plot would flow just like how it should in Narutoverse. My presence was nothing but a drop of fresh water in the ocean. It just gave me this indifference to speak up. 

When no question was asked within the next ten minutes, I guessed I needed to speed things along. “Thank you for listening and accepting this lowly housewife’s point of view without violence. I know I have stepped over so many boundaries, and the three of you are very lenient towards me for letting me have this talk. If you have nothing else to add, then may I excuse myself? I need to prepare lunch for my children and take care of my husband.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> I made new OC: Nara Shikaen (Shikaku's father) and Yamanaka Inomaru (Inoichi's father). This is because I couldn't find their name in Naruto wiki. Please tell me if there is fanon designated name for them, I will change accordingly. 
> 
> Next (probably): Obito joined the Hatakes, Minato dragged Kushina, talking with bijuu, Sakumo was overwhelmed, also further talk with Nara/Danzo. 
> 
> I am ambivalent towards Sarutobi. I am on the fence : whether he actively ignoring ROOT, or he really doesnt know about ROOT (he though it has been disbanded, and that was it). What do you think?


	15. Konoha needs psychologists, ASAP

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakumo awoken and needed recovery. Also Kushina decided to talk. 
> 
> This chapter is mostly about feelings, family and recovery. If you are here for the serious politics talk, you can skip this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly about feelings, family and recovery. If you are here for the serious politics talk, you can skip this chapter~ 
> 
> Sorry about posting it before and then deleting it mere hours afterward. I made some changes from the version I posted before. As some of you pointed out, although Kakashi was a genius, he shouldn't be burdened by adult problems. So I tried to change the discussion instead. But since it's shinobi world (and also strict East Asian culture), I think this one is still culture-appropriate. 
> 
> thanks for the feedback! :D

With a silent promise that the discussion was far from over, I was shunshin-ed back to the hospital room by the same ANBU, and vomited some tea onto the floor. I hated the feeling of being side-apparated like that. No wonder J.K. Rowling wrote it felt like shit. 

A pair of arms caught me from falling onto the floor and I felt the one catching me radiating scary, calm KI. “Kaori-san, are you alright?” the voice--Orochimaru, my head noted, asked in a very detached, cold manner. Oh, Orochimaru was the source of the KI. And it was directed to the ANBU. I needed to diffuse the situation. 

“I am fine, Oro-san.” I nodded and collected myself. Not a second later, a kid hugged my legs, while another one covered me from the ANBU. “Kakashi, Kinoe, it’s fine, pups. Thank you, ANBU-san.” 

The ANBU just nodded and sunshin-ed away. I let myself sit on the wheelchair beside my husband’s bed and huffed. My mouth felt awful. “May I have some water please?”

“Who was that? Where did you go?” Kakashi asked quickly, hands touching my thigh as if I would disappear. 

“... I went for a discussion with several people,” I smiled and patted his cheek. “Don’t you worry, pup. I am back now and perfectly fine. Uhm, can you help me get some water? My mouth feels awful.” 

Orochimaru gave me a cup of water which I accepted with massive thanks. Feeling better, I sighed and smiled at them. The kids were standing beside my wheelchair and the bed, hovering. Orochimaru wasn’t far behind, towering over us, staring at me like a protective snake. 

Hah! A snake! I pat myself on the back for the personal pun. 

“So, what did you eat?” I tried to distract them from the fact I was just kidnapped (and had returned safely). The two of them just stared at me, and then I felt something creeping around my arm. I blinked to see the branches were slipping around my right arm, tightening but not squeezing. 

“Oh little Sapling, I am sorry to worry you.” I pulled Kinoe onto my lap, patting his cheek. “I won’t leave you again, I promise.” 

“...Kaa-chan, Tenzou is sprouting again,” Kakashi huffed as he showed his own arm, wrapped by similar woody branches. 

That surprised me. So Kakashi knew about the Mokuton, had been subjected to the sprouting before, and yet in his usual fashion, kept it to himself. I looked up to Orochimaru, who paled. I guessed what I said next matter, as Orochimaru hadn’t told us about his baby’s mokuton power. 

“ _ Baby _ , Kinoe-chan, would you please let me and Kakashi go? We won’t go anywhere else.” I hugged my smallest boy tighter and let him hide between my bosom. Slowly, the branches on our arms shrinked and dried out, then fell onto the floor. To Kakashi, I asked, “Is it hurting you, pup? Has it happened before?”

“Un,” Kakashi shrugged. “So I teach him how to wrap it on one point to make an impact.” 

“Oh, what a smart boy.” I laughed and patted his cheek again. Kakashi blushed slightly, but I could see his proud chest puff. “Thank you, Kakashi.”

Orochimaru looked like he might keel anytime. I tilted my head. “It’s alright, Orochimaru-san. We don’t mind about the Mokuton power. But maybe you can help guide Kinoe to control it?” 

“What’s Mokuton, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi asked me before Orochimaru could answer. I looked around and the room was kind of empty except for our family, so I explained. 

“Oh, it’s the Senju Kekkei Genkai, pup. The last person who could wield it was Senju Hashirama-sama, the first Hokage. It’s a powerful ability and makes it very coveted. So can you please keep this a secret, since it may endanger Tenzou?” 

“Why?”

“Because bad people may try to kidnap or end Kinoe if they know about it.” 

Kakashi looked solemn and nodded. 

I turned to Orochimaru, who was still watching us closely. “Orochimaru-san… I know you must have questions, but can it wait till we go back home? I want to update my husband as well.” 

Thankfully the Snake Sannin trusted me to postpone the questioning. I was tired and quite hungry, and craved for something sweet. Well, since I was pregnant now, my wish for sweet things should be justified. 

“I am famished, how about we get some dango?” I asked both of my kids. 

* * *

Sakumo had yet to open his eyes when we returned from the dango trip, but someone had taken his bedside chair. It was Jiraiya. 

I sighed deeply, dread filled my chest. 

“Why are you here?” Orochimaru was the one who asked, while continuing pushing my wheelchair and deposited me on the other side of my husband’s bed. Kakashi followed beside us, while Kinoe sat on my lap. 

“Sakumo’s my best friend, you know!” 

“...Nice to know.” Orochimaru sounded hurt to my ear. It must have hurt, the way Jiraiya cared about Sakumo more than he cared about his own teammate. I knew that Jiraiya had yet to visit Orochimaru in months, especially since Tsunade decided to leave. Unconsciously, I grabbed Orochimaru’s hand tightly, reminding him he has us now, and he didn’t need his useless teammate. 

Orochimaru flashed a small smile to me. I smiled back. 

Jiraiya growled, “...Are you having an affair with each other?” 

_ Oh I wanted to hit this man so bad.  _

Orochimaru was quicker. A kunai flashed and almost cut into Jiraiya’s face. The man dodged and the said kunai pierced the wall behind him. 

“I pity your mind, Jiraiya-san,” I hissed. “Your inability to comprehend other types of love outside the physical is very pitiable. And as you may know, I am pregnant with Sakumo’s child. Don’t you dare soil our child with your baseless accusation.” 

Jiraiya tsk-ed. “Fine. I am sorry.” 

“Thank you.” I replied. “And I also want to formally thank you for saving my husband. Your action has brought my husband back to us. I cannot thank you enough, and please consider me indebted. Please inform me if there is anything I can do to repay your help.” 

He blinked. “Ugh. Stop talking like that. That feels too weird. I am too used of you being a bitc… being grumpy.” 

It made me smile a bit. Kakashi huffed and climbed the bed, but I kept him from sleeping beside my husband. Instead I asked him to stay by the end of the bed. Sakumo has just returned from a bad mission, he was bound to be high strung and dangerous when he woke up. 

“...Since when did you have a son, Oro? I don’t even recall any woman,” Jiraiya asked. 

Orochimaru raised his eyebrow, “Why do you care?”

“Teme! I am trying to be pleasant to you!”

“... There are other methods of getting a child, you know.” 

“What? You make one from your experiments?” Jiraiya asked, this time looking very interested. 

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. “Of course not, stupid! I found him hurt by the roadside when I returned from the mission, so I healed him.” 

“...oh. That was unexpected. I don’t know you like kids.” Jiraiya looked genuinely surprised. “What’s his name again?” 

Orochimaru huffed. “His name is Kinoe.” 

My Mokuton Baby perked from his perch on my lap, staring unblinkingly at the big man across the bed. Jiraiya stared back. I wondered whether he remembered Kinoe from before, but maybe Jiraiya was too focused on me (because I accused him of dooming Sakumo) to pay attention to my baby. “We nicknamed him Tenzou, though,” I quickly added. 

“Huh. He is weird.” The Frog Sannin huffed. “Like you, Oro.” 

“My baby is cute! You take that back!” I hissed while covering my baby’s ears. “Hush, it’s alright, Kinoe. You are good and cute, don’t listen to that man.” 

Kinoe tilted his head and smiled. “Superior! SPERM!” 

Oh no. 

“.... What?” Orochimaru deadpanned. “Who told him that?” 

“Oh… I can explain this,” I blushed from embarrassment. “I am very sorry, Orochimaru-san. It was an accident. Sakumo was saying those inappropriate terms and Kinoe just parrotted it…!” 

“SUPERIOR!” Kinoe squealed happily, “SPE..!” I quickly clamped my palm around his mouth. 

Jiraiya’s loud guffaw broke the tension, and then we were laughing together. Kinoe tried to pull my palm away, but I kept it there so he couldn’t repeat the bad words. Kakashi grabbed my attention and asked, “What is sperm, Kaa-chan?” 

“Uhm.” I closed my eyes. “Uhm. Ask your father later, will you?” 

Kakashi blinked. “... Alright.” 

That made the Sannins in the room laugh further, although Orochimaru was way more elegant compared to his teammate. I huffed and took away my palm from Kinoe’s mouth. The little boy laughed too, and he climbed up the bed, siding with Kakashi. 

I took my husband's hand in mine, and rubbed little circles on them. He looked like he was sleeping. I wished he would open his eyes quickly. 

Jiraiya stared at us for quite a moment, before looking away. “It’s been a long time since I met you, Teme. …. I am glad you look fine.” 

I smiled as Orochimaru turned red, but quickly hid it behind his cool mask. I pretended I didn’t see anything, to keep the moment precious. 

“... And motherhood suits you. You look more and more like a girl now!” the man grinned, and ruined the moment. 

“Is there any  _ problem  _ with being a mother or a girl, Jiraiya-san?” I asked. Thread carefully, you jerk. He sounded like he was looking down at all the single fathers. 

Jiraiya quickly backtracked. “No, No, it’s all good! Jezz, what a trigger happy harpy!” 

I glared at him, wondering why Sakumo could be his best friend. This man knew no tact. “Ah, I understand, Jiraiya-san. As usual, the filter between your brain and mouth is absent. Or maybe you never even have one?” 

Before he could answer, Sakumo twitched and opened his eyes. He blinked before his body tensed and his upper torso sprung from the bed. Before I knew it, Orochimaru had pulled me from my wheelchair to hide behind him, while Jiraiya grabbed my husband’s flailing arm. Kakashi jumped from the bed with Kinoe in his arms. 

“Sakumo!” Jiraiya barked and dodged Sakumo’s other hand, “You are in Konoha!” 

My husband blinked before his body relaxed. It took a moment before he breathed deeply and closed his eyes again. He went back to lay on the bed.

“..‘Raiya.” Sakumo croaked. “... the mission?” 

“Successful. You took a kunai to your gut. Also chakra exhaustion and light concussion.” 

“My team…?”

“... One didn’t make it, sorry.” 

“Who?”

“... Weasel.”

The pain on my husband’s face was so raw. I could feel his heart torn in pain. Guilt. I quickly pushed from my chair, rushing to his side. I took his hand gently. 

“Sakumo? Sakumo… it’s me.” 

“... Kaori?” 

“Yes, it’s me. Can I hug you?” 

He turned to me, his eyes screaming from lost, pain, hurt, guilt. 

_ Please take them away _ .

I slowly touched his face, letting him register my touch, my scent, my warmth, before slowly climbing onto the bed with him. I cradled his head on my chest despite knowing it might still trigger my husband, but Sakumo looked so lost I just couldn’t let him fall into despair. 

“Hush, Hubby. You are safe. You are back with us. It’s alright. You are here now. With me, with us.” I kissed his forehead. His scent was stronger than usual, since he hadn’t had any wash for days. “It’s alright. You are here. Breathe with me? In, Out. In, Out.”

His hand found my arms, and he squeezed. It was quite painful, but I let him. He followed my voice, In and Out, breathing in tandem with me. Slowly he calmed down, yet still hiding his face on my embrace. 

“I’ll find the medics.” Jiraiya nodded before leaving us. 

“Kaori-san, we will wait outside.” Orochimaru added softly, ushering the kids out from the room. 

I nodded with thanks and kept whispering to my husband. His breath was soft, but still following my rhythm. Slowly, I let him go slightly and looked at him. 

“How do you feel?” I smiled. 

He looked at me with glassy eyes. 

“Let it out, Hubby.” I kissed his forehead, “Let it out.” 

He shuddered. I felt his tears on my chests. It made my heart hurt too. I could do nothing to spare him from this grief. I couldn’t even guess what he was feeling right now, how bad it must have felt. But all I could do was to keep cradling him until the medic came. I let him go when a male medic nin came in, Jiraiya behind him. 

“Hatake-san,” the man nodded and checked over my husband. I pulled from the bed and Orochimaru kindly pushed the wheelchair behind me, so I could park myself on it right away. All of us ignored how reluctant Sakumo was when he let me go. The medic nin announced that Sakumo seemed to be healing nicely, and probably should stay in the hospital for another day before full week rest at home. 

He then turned to me and spoke, “Next time, Hatake-san, please refrain from getting too close to your husband before he stabilised. It’s not advisable to get too close while the patient is still out of their … mind, especially with your condition. ” 

While understanding the risk of Sakumo went berserk and hurting me, I also couldn’t phantom how I could not hug my husband when he needed me so much. Yet another thing I should be reflecting on myself. What kind of danger would I be ready to face? I needed to stop jumping to action without thinking twice. I was not a single freelancer anymore. My action carried consequences. My risk has tripled, now with my husband, kids, and unborn child. 

I thanked the medic nin instead and returned to my husband. He looked closed off, his eyes no longer carried the raw pain he showed me before. I put on my best smile, squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. 

“Tou-chan.” Kakashi called out, “Can I hug you too?” 

Sakumo smiled sadly, “Of course, come here, pup. Both of you.” 

“Be careful of Tou-chan stomach, please.” I added. “Be gentle.” 

Both boys climbed up the bed, and Sakumo welcomed them with open arms. Kakashi squeezed his father’s neck before pulling Kinoe down with him. 

“Go back to sleep, Hubby.” I smiled at him. “You will feel better then. Are you hungry? We’ll get some food for you.” 

“Yes, some food will be great, Love. I missed your food,” Sakumo smiled at me. 

In the end, he could only eat hospital food and we stayed with him until the end of the visiting hour. Orochimaru and Jiraiya helped me usher the kids home, and I already had recipes in mind to cook for my husband to bring the day after. I offered Jiraiya to stay in the boarding house, and he took it, taking the room beside Orochimaru’s (who, surprisingly, didn’t spend the night inside Kinoe’s room). 

The mission was done, my husband was back. Now I needed to ensure he wouldn’t fall into depression, or trying to kill himself. I vowed I would not fail this. 

* * *

I brought Sakumo home the next day. 

His wounds were closed (with the Medical Palm jutsu), so all he needed was further rest especially to recover from the concussion. The hospital was full as well, so patients like Sakumo were encouraged to stay at home for rest, and a check up in three days. 

I was ready with a wheelchair, but my husband adamantly refused it. He stood and walked beside me instead. Orochimaru and Jiraiya were called by the Hokage, so it was just us. The walk was slow, I realised my husband was using me as his walking clutch, so I tried my best to support him with my hand around his waist. Kakashi went to the Academy in the morning, I managed to persuade him to attend his class. Kinoe was still at home, left with Minato (the young man has moved in permanently into one of the personal rooms in the boarding house--I gave him a special rate because he adamantly wanted to pay for the room). 

Sakumo was still keeping to himself, eyes wondering far away. I watched him with a bitter smile. I couldn’t help much, could I? All I needed to be now was to keep him on the ground, to tell him he was worth living. I didn’t know the details of his mission, so I was afraid everything I said might or might not trigger his trauma. What I wouldn’t give for access to google right now, to search about how to handle my husband. 

I was glad Sakumo got a full week off from this--at least the village gave him a rest period. I would be storming into the Hokage’s tower if they called Sakumo for another mission earlier than that, my life be damned. 

“I made grilled fish, your favourite.” I tried to make small talk while we walked. “The fishmonger gave me discounts. So you can eat as much as you want, Hubby.”

His forced smile saddened me. 

I wanted to scream, to tell him to let it out and be angry, at this village, at the Hokage, at me, even. Just let his feelings out. Tell me everything. But he wouldn’t. He hid it inside himself. I knew he would share with me when he was ready, but I couldn’t keep it like this. And to bring my pregnancy news when he was like this… I didn’t want him to force a fake happy face. 

When we reached home, I heard Kinoe’s calling me from the room, so I pushed my husband onto the dining table (with a bowl of rice and fish ready) and quickly went to fetch my little sapling. The boy looked disgruntled for being left alone when he woke up, and signed at me to pick him up. 

“I am sorry, my mokuton sapling.” I kissed him. “Tou-chan needs us, yeah? Let’s make Tou-chan happy?”

Kinoe stared at me with his big eyes and to my surprise, nodded. 

“That’s my boy.” I kissed him again. He shrieked with glee. 

When I returned, Sakumo had yet to eat, so I sat next to him and put Kinoe on my lap. Sakumo turned to us with his empty eyes. Kinoe suddenly pulled his chubby arms up at Sakumo, signaling he wanted to be hugged by my husband. 

And miraculously, my husband actually smiled a little. He gathered Kinoe in his arms and shuddered. 

“We love you, Sakumo.” I whispered. “We are glad you are back.” 

“...I am sorry.” He started to sob into Kinoe’s mane. My little boy fell silent, but kept his little arms grabbing Sakumo’s shirt. “I failed my team. He was going to get married next week.” 

Oh. “...I am so sorry.” I whispered back. 

“...Can I have this when they can’t?” he asked brokenly. 

_ The survivor's guilt.  _

I didn’t know what to say and how to avoid the triggers. “... I am sure they would want you to… to keep living. Living for them. They know you love them. And this… this is outside your power, Sakumo.”

“... I need to tell his family.” 

“Not now. Give it time. Please. I know this is against the normal, but let other ANBU captains do it. You need to recover now. Nothing else matters.” 

“No.” My husband growled. “I am.. _ was _ his captain, I need to tell his family.” 

I wanted to disagree further, but I knew if I did it, Sakumo would be angry and I couldn’t let him go down that destructive path. “...Alright.” I sighed, “Alright. But please do it tomorrow? Today is fully for you to rest. To be with us.” 

Sakumo didn’t reply and hugged Kinoe tighter. My baby turned to me, eyes unblinking, as if asking what to do. I smiled and mimed,  _ good boy _ , at him. Kinoe blinked and turned back to Sakumo, then planted an innocent, wet kiss on my husband’s cheek. 

It made me chuckle. The sneak attack surprised Sakumo too. He smiled sadly and kissed my baby back. 

_ Good boy, Kinoe _ . I was glad for my baby. I promised he would get double dango balls this afternoon. 

* * *

Dinner was a very lively affair. 

Somehow my dining table gathered a lot of people. Jiraiya and orochimaru were there, alongside Minato and Kushina. Minato brought the red haired pretty girl with him, sheepishly asked whether she could join our dinner. Of course I couldn’t refuse his request. Initially, Kushina and Kakashi volunteered to help me cook, but mostly pestered me over what to do and where to put things or whether to put water or oil on the pan. In the end, Orochimaru took pity on me and we cooked together. 

He was surprisingly a good chef.

“Is there anything you cannot do?” I pouted as I watched him quickly make saute vegetables. 

He raised his eyebrow elegantly at me. I huffed. Even when he was lording his skill over me, he looked beautiful. 

Between us, we managed to prepare the whole dinner: white rice, miso soup, saute vegetables, grilled fish for everyone, potato in soy sauce and agedashi tofu. A sharp glance from Orochimaru made Jiraiya rise from the sofa he was sitting on, and immediately helped us put the dishes onto the living room table. Since there were eight of us, we opted to eat on the floor with the sitting table. 

I took the space beside my husband. He still looked tired, but after a long nap, he woke up with better composure. Kakashi and Kinoe helped accompany him too, which made him feel better it seemed. But he still kept his silence, ignoring several questions from Kakashi, Kinoe, Jiraiya and Minato. I tried to answer those questions instead, distracting them from my husband. I piled up food on his bowl, before taking some for my kids. Our guests helped themselves, and dinner went fine. The whole time I kept watch on my husband, and he noticed it too. By the end of dinner, he had his hand on my back, calming me down. 

After dinner, I ushered my boys for sleep. Kinoe got an additional kiss because he has been such a good boy that day. On the other hand, Kakashi looked like he had things to ask. 

“Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?” I asked, smiling tiredly. 

Kakashi shook his head. “Kaa-chan, is Tou-chan alright?”

I sighed and decided to be honest. “... Tou-chan is hurt and needs more rest to heal. His last mission didn’t go that well, baby. Someone… one of his team died. So Tou-chan is very sad right now.”

Kakashi blinked. “What happened to the team member?”

“I don’t know the details, but he died during the mission. Tou-chan, as the leader of his team, feels sad.”

“Does it mean Tou-chan failed his mission?” Kakashi asked, voice a bit vulnerable. Sakumo was his hero, a failure was not something Kakashi associated Sakumo with. 

“No.” I firmly answered. “Tou-chan managed to finish his mission and bring back his team safely even under duress. Mission… is not everything, Kakashi. Those who break the rules are scum, but…”

“... those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.” Kakashi cut me. “Tou-chan told me.” 

I smiled. “Good that you remember that, pup. So, No. Your Tou-chan is still a hero for bringing them home, dead or not.”

“... But Tou-chan is still sad?”

I touched his soft cheek. “If something bad happened to Kinoe, would you feel sad, Kakashi?”

He mulled it for a moment, and nodded. 

I smiled, “It’s the same with Tou-chan. And it’s fine to feel sad. When Kakashi grows up and joins the shinobi force, you will face some similar situations. But it is not something to be ashamed for. Being sad or angry is fine. Because we are human and we have emotions. What’s important is you accept it and move forward.”

“...I don’t understand, Kaa-chan.” 

“It’s alright. You don’t need to understand it now. What matters is you keep growing and learning. Leave the rest to Kaa-chan, alright?” 

Kakashi looked at me before nodding. 

“Right. You need to go to sleep now.” I kissed his forehead, tucking him. “Sweet dream, pup.” 

* * *

Minato and Kushina already did the dish when I returned to the living room, so I thanked them before sending them away with leftover dishes. I bluntly asked whether they were an item--which made both of them blushed so red. Jiraiya laughed out loud, patting his student on the back. Orochimaru then told me he would be returning to his room in the boarding house with the other three, then patted my cheek. 

“You alright?” he asked softly. 

“Thank you, Oro-san.” I smiled tiredly. “I am handling this.”

“Please tell me if you need any help.” he smiled and then left. When the door was closed, I took a deep breath and returned to the sofa, where my husband was sitting while drinking tea like it was sake. He saw me and gestured for me to come near. 

I sat on his lap, letting him hide his face on my neck. 

“.... I am sorry,” he apologised again. “I still…”

“It’s alright. You don’t need to apologise.” I whispered and combed my fingers through his hair. “I understand. And I am here for you, Sakumo.” 

“Why?” he mumbled. 

“Why what, hubby?” 

“Why do you put up with me? With… this?” 

“...Because I love you. And I promise I will be here for you, always.” 

“...Ah.” he looked confused, and tried to hide. I didn’t let him. I wouldn’t let him. 

“I believe in your decision. No matter what, I am proud of you.” 

“...Even though I killed a lot of people? Turned children into orphans? Ending lovers?” 

I kissed his hair. “Yes. Even then.” 

He shook his head. “I am not worthy of this, Kaori. I am the worst shinobi there is. What kind of leader let his team be killed? I am not … not what you believe I am.” 

I chewed my lips and thought of what to say next. I didn’t know what was the best response to that. I couldn’t google it. So I would be honest instead. “For me, you are worth more than just being a shinobi, Sakumo. You are human, a husband and a father too. Your worth isn’t defined by your mission. You are ours. And we decide whether you are worthy of our love or not. So please don’t call yourself unworthy.” 

He shuddered, but kept quiet. I continued my mumbling instead. 

“It was a mission. You are a captain who lost his subordinate. Now, would your subordinate be back to life if you punish yourself?  _ No _ . Instead, be a better captain. So next time, there will be less mistakes. You can save more lives. But for now, you need to learn to forgive yourself, Hubby.”

If my husband became Hokage, I couldn’t imagine how tortured he must feel everyday, because he was ordering his people to die for the Village. I didn't think he could do it. I couldn’t keep him sane. I was selfish enough to want to keep my husband just like this. 

“... How about opening a farm? I think you’d like the goats.”

He huffed. “What? That’s so random.” 

“We can take Kakashi and Kinoe and Oro-san and Minato away. Leave this Kami forsaken village and open a farm outside. The children will love the fresh air. Make a living from selling turnips and cow milk. And cheese.” 

“What's cheese?” he asked. I blinked. He didn’t know cheese? 

“Cheese is a kind of food made from cow or goat milk, Hubby. They are delicious, but also can make you fart.” 

He chuckled. “... Only you, Kaori. Only you.” 

I touched his cheek. “I love your laughs. I wish you to always laugh.” 

He stopped smiling. 

“I am sorry,” I whispered, realising I made a mistake. Again. I didn’t even know where I made it. Everything felt dangerous. “I don’t mean to force you. I know it’s hard to recover from this. Take your time, Sakumo. I am here for you.” 

Sakumo whispered back. “Thank you, Kaori.” 

“... Can I kiss you?” I asked timidly. 

He nodded, so I kissed his forehead, his eyes, his nose, and lastly a chaste kiss on the lips. “Let’s go to bed. Tomorrow will be a better day.” 

He looked away. “... Maybe I’ll sleep on the sofa for now. I may not be able to control myself or my nightmare. I don’t want to hurt you because of it.” 

I felt hurt filling my chest. My own husband refused to sleep with me, even though he did have valid reasons. Why was it so hard? I was trying my hardest, but why wasn’t it enough?

“No. You can take the bed. I… I can sleep with Kakashi.” I shrugged. 

“Are you sure?” 

_ No, _ I wanted to say. I wanted to be next to him. I wanted to wake him up from nightmares. I wanted to shield him from pain. But with my pregnancy and my inability to subdue Sakumo if he had bad moments, I couldn’t say no. “I’ll miss you. We don’t spend enough time on our bed as it is. But if you need space, I will give it. I love you, Sakumo.” 

He kissed me this time, a soft, delicate kiss that filled with desperation for closeness, not out of lust. When we separated, I pulled away. We cleaned ourselves before bed and separated in front of Kakashi’s door. 

“Sweet dream.” I whispered. “Love you, Sakumo.” 

“Love you too, Kaori.” 

I closed Kakashi’s door behind me and slipped into Kakashi’s bed. My boy jostled a bit before sleepily called me. 

“...Kaa-chan?” 

“Sorry, pup. Can I sleep with you for tonight?” 

My boy nodded and moved so I could put my hands around him, used from previous nights. 

The rejection  _ hurt. _ Maybe it was hormones. Maybe I was too tired. 

I started to cry silently, trying my best to not wake Kakashi up. Everything came back to me. I was relieved. I was tired. I was hurt. I was afraid. I was angry. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t help at all. I needed to be strong. But I was weak. Why can’t I be stronger? What am I doing? 

I wanted my mother. She would know what to do. 

I wanted my mom.

I cried myself to sleep that night. 

* * *

When I woke up, I felt a lot better. The room felt a bit different and I saw my son’s head on my arms. The clock stated it was quite early in the morning. I decided to wake up and prepare breakfast instead. 

My pup was still sleeping when I slipped out of his bed. The house was still silent, a bit cold with fresh air. Cleaning myself and making breakfast were something out of habit, letting my mind wonder. 

Did I do the right thing? 

_ Yes _ . I just needed to be more patient with Sakumo. It wasn’t as if he suddenly decided to leave the house. He was still Sakumo, and he could heal with time. And maybe lots of visits to the psychiatrist. Which made me wonder, was there any psychiatrist in Narutoverse? From the little anime and manga I read, there was no mention of psychiatrist or mental health in the Naruto canon. It was a given, since East Asian cultures were devoid of mental health help until after WWII. Although, I also read alot of fanfics that provided mental health practitioners in Narutoverse. 

Maybe I should ask Orochimaru about it. 

(Actually, the lack of mental health help was probably the reason for the insanity -- nobody checked on Hokage’s or the Elder’s sanity. Nobody checked on the top jounins’ mental health until the only coping mechanism Tsunade had was to leave the Village altogether. And it made sense that since nobody cared, Orochimaru became down real fast into the horrendous rabbit experimental hole). 

Maybe it should be something I pushed to either Danzo or Shikaen. They should have invested in good mental doctors compared to pushing children to become perfect killing machines. 

“Good morning, Hatake-san.” 

I flinched and saw someone I didn’t expect to be in the kitchen with me in such an hour. 

“Good morning, Uzumaki-san.” I greeted her back. “You are quite early.” 

“I spent the night at Minato’s, so…”

“Oh, that’s nice.” I murmured while whisking the egg. “Ah, as an adult, I need to check, though. Are you being safe?”

“Wha..What!?” Kushina flailed and blushed so red, matching her hair. “We don..’t! We haven’t!” 

“Well, I hope you use protection when the time comes.” I smiled. “Don’t be ashamed of your body, Uzumaki-san. And consent is important, alright?”

“Ye.yes, Hatake-san.” she nodded while still blushing. “I… Can I help with the breakfast?”

“Hm. How about you mixed up the salad?” I tried to steer her away from the stove. 

“Alright. Also, please call me Kushina.” She started chopping the tomatoes with vengeance. Maybe I was wrong to give her the task. 

“Well, then please call me Kaori.” I smiled back. “Well, do you have something to discuss with me?”

“How do you know?” she stopped chopping and turned to me, a bit surprised. 

“You don’t seem like the type to wake up this early, Kushina-san. And nobody usually joins me in the kitchen to prepare food this early. So, what can I help you with, little one?”

She stopped chopping and looked down. “... Minato told me that you know … about the Kyuubi.” 

I kept whisking the eggs, giving no confirmation. 

“I also read your book about the Kyuubi. …. Don’t you think  _ it _ is a monster?”

“What do you think, Kushina-san?” I asked instead.

“... Mito-sama told me Kyuubi was a powerful monster that needed to be sealed away to keep us safe, yanno*.” 

“...And? What do you think?”

“I… I don’t know?” 

“Have you tried to know him first, before deciding?” I asked instead. 

“...Everytime I tried to ask, the beast taunted me to get me angry so he could try and slip away.” 

“Understandable.” I poured the eggs onto the pan. “He must be very angry since he has been chained for years already. Everyone who was jailed for years, for something that was out of his own control, must be furious.” 

“How do you know that, Kaori-san!?” 

“I have my ways.” I shrugged and rolled the eggs to add more onto the empty side. “But I think you shall ask it right from the source himself. And start by stop thinking of him as a ‘beast’.”

“How? How can I do that!? He won’t even answer me!!!”

“Try to talk to him politely? How do you make friends? Introduce yourself. Ask his name. Bring some food? And apologise for our behalf.” I put the eggs on the cutting board, and then cut it into 8 pieces. “Reciprocity is the key to communication. Respect and trust will get you a long way.” 

Kushina stopped asking and continued to look down. “Don’t you think… I am a monster too?”

I was stunned for a moment. I realised this was what it came down to. Kushina thought of herself as a monster. That was why she hated Kurama inside of her. Because she didn’t want to have a reminder of having a monster inside of her. Her situation was a bit different from Naruto of whom being despised by the whole village. Naruto turned that massive hate into a push to be loved, because he believed he was not a monster. On the other hand, not many people knew about Kushina’s status because Mito-sama didn’t want her to be hated. But exactly because of that, Kushina grew with the mindset that having a monster inside of her, made her a monster herself. And since she has no one to talk about it, it grew into a complex. 

That was why she searched for me. Because I knew about her situation, and she needed someone to talk it through. 

“...Are you a monster, Kushina-chan? I don’t see that. You are a lovely young girl who will grow to be a very awesome kunoichi.” The eggs were ready. “Not a monster.  _ Never  _ a monster.” 

I turned to her and saw her glassy eyes. 

“Oh child. Can I hug you?”

Kushina looked lost before nodding. I slowly gathered her in my arms. We were similar in height, she was only a few inches shorter than me. But it felt like I was hugging a small, lost girl. 

“I know it was hard. Being the last of your clan, also being the Jinchuurikii. I know not everyone liked you for it. I am sorry you have gone through that. But you have grown into a splendid, strong young woman now. I am sure… your family and Mito-sama were proud of you. But you cannot keep hating yourself like this, Kushina-chan. Stop thinking of yourself as a monster. I don’t see people around you, like Minato-kun, Jiraiya-san, or me, thinking of you as a monster. Why do you torture yourself so?”

“But…” 

“No but. Stop thinking of yourself as a monster.” 

“I don’t know how, yanno..!” 

“Well, you can start by befriending the _ monster _ inside of you.” I kissed her red, pretty hair. “I am sure you’ll find a nice surprise. And probably a new friend.” 

Silence fell upon us. I closed my eyes and relaxed my stance, moulding Kushina into my embrace deeper. I was now convinced there was no psychologist in this forsaken Village. Every single shinobi I knew has baggage the size of Eiffel tower. How they could keep functioning, I wondered. And all of them each had a bad, sad backstory that it was all angst fest clusterfuck. 

I opened my eyes and saw my husband standing by the kitchen door. He looked curious and way better than yesterday. I couldn’t help but smile and shook my head so he wouldn’t ask. He nodded and left us. 

When Kushina finally let me go, her eyes were red, but she was smiling. 

“Feel better?” I asked, just like I asked my pups. She nodded and grinned. I smiled back. “Right, come on. Let’s prepare breakfast, shall we?”

“Can you teach me how to cook, yanno?” Kushina asked cheerfully, a contrast from her sadness before our hug. 

I indulged her, of course. “Of course! Now, how about the salad you were preparing…?”

* * *

Between us, we managed to prepare some breakfast. Mixed salad, egg rolls, porridge and sliced fruits. Kushina gladly helped put it on the table, while I rushed to the toilet to vomit. Sakumo was beside me when I finished hugging the toilet bowl. 

“Are you alright, Kaori? “ he panicked. “Do you feel sick?” 

“My mouth feels so bad.” I wiped my face with the cloth he shoved to me. “I need to brush my teeth again.” 

He helped me up and stood behind me with her arms around me while I brushed my teeth. 

“How’s sleep?” I asked in between brushing my teeth. 

“Not so good, ...I missed you.” 

“.... Want to sleep together tonight?” I asked slowly “Do you think you can control yourself?” 

He didn’t answer until we were seated on the breakfast table, which was now full of people. Minato and Kushina were there, as well as Kakashi. I kissed my pup a good morning. Minato smiled and told me he would drop Kakashi at the Academy, which made Kakashi pouted because ‘he was a big boy and didn't need Mi-kun to drop him off’. Minato was surprised with the nickname. Kakashi then explained that since Minato was the newest member of the family, he would be Kakashi’s  _ little _ brother. Since Mi-kun was taller than him, Kakashi would shortcut his name instead, because of his older brother’s prerogative. 

Minato was gaping like a fish, while Kushina laughed out loud and teased him mercilessly. Sakumo returned with Kinoe in his arms, and sat on the chair vacated by Kushina and Minato. I huffed. 

“We need to buy a new table, Hubby.” 

“Huh. I don’t remember having the need to.” he shrugged with amusement. “Did you adopt a new one when I was away?”

“Mi-kun.” Kakashi chirped. “And Kushina-nee?” 

“Oh, she is also one of us now, is she?” Sakumo asked in mirth. “Why is she your neechan, and Minato-kun your little brother?”

“... Because I said so?” Kakashi shrugged. 

It made us laugh and I coo-ed at my first son. He blushed but still surrendered himself to me to be squished and kissed before he left for the Academy with Minato and Kushina. 

I decided Sakumo needed more sunlight to reduce his depressive hormones. So I asked him for a nice layout on our patio, enjoying the morning sunlight with Kinoe while I went through my budgeting. My husband seemed to look better, although he has yet to release Kinoe from his arms. I let him be, and instead chattered about my plan of hiring an in-house keeper for the boarding house, as well as purchasing a new table. 

When I felt the telltale sign of another vomit coming, I pushed Sakumo’s head from my lap and ran towards the bathroom. He quickly followed me with Kinoe in his arms and wouldn’t let me vomit in peace. 

“Let’s get to the Hospital and check?” he pleaded. 

“No need, Sakumo.” I sighed. “... I am pregnant.”

His eyes bugged out. “What.” 

Kinoe shrieked, “Superior!!! SPE…!!!” and I clasped my hand on his mouth. 

“Well.” I jested. “Look at what you’ve done. Orochimaru almost skinned me alive for letting Kinoe learn that, you see.” 

But Sakumo was still frozen, making me almost afraid he regretted our plan to have new children. I was proved wrong when the next second, he just dropped onto his knees and hugged my abdomen. Kinoe huffed because he was put onto the floor and so he leaned onto my legs instead, copying Sakumo.

“You sure, Kaori? You really, really sure?” Sakumo asked me, hands trembling. 

“Yes.” I grinned wetly. “Yes, Hubby. We are having another one. We definitely need a new table. And a new room for a nursery.” 

“Ah. I …” Sakumo just hugged me tighter, “We are having another baby. You are amazing!” 

I patted his head, “You are an amazing father too, Sakumo. So stay with us, alright? Or I will name this baby ‘Tamago’.”

“Oh, it’s a good name!” Sakumo grinned. “We all like eggs!” 

I flicked his ear in jest. 

That morning, we spent it sunbathing by the patio. Kinoe let himself run around the garden, hands touching every leaf and sticks he could find. Sakumo looked like he was feeling better as we watched our smallest kid enjoy himself. At least, his smile was genuine enough as he snuggled his face onto my lap. If only time would stop then and there, so we could keep being happy without any burden… but I knew sooner or later, I would need to face the music. I would need to tell my husband and Orochimaru, as well as Danzo and Nara. 

But for now, I let myself enjoy the sunlight and my family’s presence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *yanno : dattebane
> 
> The psychologist angle is taken from the plot (no psychologist in the canon) as well as follows the period appropriate culture (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540260802397263). in the collective society, it is very important to follow the rules, regardless what the individuals think. and it is a shame to be "mad" or "depressed". I am well aware of it (my mother keeps telling me to check my partner's and his family's mental health before marriage to ensure I dont get "mad" or "disabled" children. Also, my uncle committed suicide because he was gay in the mid 1970s).


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Showdown with Danzo. All couple fight over all the silliest things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you @FunnyFen for giving me so many fun prompts as well as the way to calm down the angst in this chapter! Will do the rest of the prompt in future chapters, I promise. her amazing prompts can be read on the comments section, if you are interested :)

“Are you sure?” I asked again, before Sakumo could step outside of our home. 

“Yes, Kaori.” he smiled tightly. “It’s my responsibility to inform Weasel’s family.” 

I kept my hand on his arms. Sakumo was doing better. Three days after he woke up, he finally let me sleep beside him again. He almost decked me in the middle of the night when he had an episode, but he caught himself on time and didn’t even touch me. I woke up to him panting, hands grabbing his own face, tears flew between his fingers, body shaking. But he didn’t hurt me. He managed to control himself. 

So now, just a day before he should go back to the mission desk, he put on his mask (his mask was the Wolf, he showed me) and readied himself to deliver the death message to the family. If I had my way, I would let other people, anyone, just not my husband, to inform the family. No disrespect to Weasel’s family, of course, but I wanted to keep Sakumo in my safe bubble, just for a little longer, until my husband felt better. Alas, time waited for no one, especially not us. 

“Stop fretting.” he smiled warmly now, hand touching my cheek, “I’ll be back at noon.” 

I let him go. The house was empty aside from me and sleeping Kinoe--Kakashi was in the Academy, Orochimaru and Kushina were called for missions, Minato went away with his sensei. I decided to put Kinoe in the daycare for a day. 

I knew I had been postponing things. Things would come back and demand interest. I could not postpone it any longer. 

* * *

I decided that I should be the one initiating instead of waiting. This way I had some preparation. 

  
Thus, that morning saw me walking slowly towards the Shimura compound. Shimura was a small clan, but slowly climbed to be one of the important shinobi clans. They stayed in a small compound, almost as big as the Hatake’s. I asked for Danzo’s audience. Wearing a thick, formal Hatake Grey kimono and bringing an expensive gift suitable for greeting an Elder. 

After a few minutes, I was ushered towards the biggest house. I found myself seated in the big, Japanese styled room with a calligraphy of “Leaf” as the only furniture aside from the sitting pillows and a table. Danzo was already waiting for me, with a pot of tea and two cups in front of him. 

“Thank you for accepting my request for an audience, Danzo-sama. Please accept our humble gift.” 

I pushed the box on the table. He just nodded slightly, giving me no answer nor making the act to receive my gift. 

“I am here today in behalf of my Husband’s clan, the Hatake. We formally offer our support for your Hokage candidacy.” 

That surprised him. He stared at me before asking. “Are you suggesting that Hatake Sakumo rescind his Hokage candidate recommendation?”

“That is correct, Danzo-sama.” I nodded.

  
Danzo looked at me suspiciously, “What do you want in return?”

“There are three things we request in turn,” I smiled. “First, we want protection. For our clan, including my family and the people within it.” I started my battle. “The last mission my husband has was sabotaged, although my husband still managed to fulfill the mission objectives. However, he lost a precious team member, an upstanding Konoha Shinobi.”

“I don’t see your point. The White Fang is famous for his shinobi prowess. He needs no protection.” 

“What we want is protection from the shadow for our entire clan, not only for my husband.” I continued. “There would be no more sabotage, double cross or interfere from the shadows. In return, we will openly support your candidacy.” 

Danzo put down his cup. “Are you insinuating that I have something to do with the mission?” 

“Of course not, Danzo-sama. I wouldn’t dare to imply anything like that. We just want to request protection, that’s all.” I smiled. “Also, it will include the protection to speak my mind for my next two points.” 

“Which are…?”

“May I be granted protection and permission to speak?” 

“...Yes, you may.”

I smiled my best customer service smile. “Secondly, the betterment of the village, not only from the military side but also from the economy and education.”

“And why do you think I won’t strive to improve Konoha?”

“Of course you will, Danzo-sama. I believe you have marvelous plans for Konoha, but you will only focus on the military side. This is what I want to bring your attention to, Sir. Without economic strength, we will depend too heavily on Shinobi's missions. It is fine now, but it is not sustainable. Good shinobi tends to die on the battlefield or succumb from infertility. Also, the increased number of orphans due to the war resulted in untrained Kekkei Genkai. Have you noticed the dwindling number of prominent clans in Konoha? Sooner or later, by the next generation, we might lose several very important Kekkei Genkai because of this. So instead of putting the brunt of work on the shinobi’s back, why not share it with the civilian side as well? Economics is one very powerful thing, because money makes the world go around.” 

I stopped my speech, waiting for his reaction. So far he just looked at me and took a sip on his tea. 

“Have you thought about this properly? Do you know that, by nature, Konoha is a Shinobi village, which was established to combine shinobi clans? This is not a civilian village, Child. And the strongest shinobi shall persist, while the weaker perish.”

“I have, Sir, to a certain extent. And not all the clan members were shinobis, Sir. From history, we see that most of them were farmers instead. Also, not all strongest shinobi persist, and not all weaker shinobi perish.” 

Danzo was different than I thought he would be. In many of the fanfics I read before, he was portrayed as a crazy, power hungry man who couldn’t accept his defeat over Sarutobi Hiruzen. I might be biased, but the man in front of me actually cared about Konoha in the only way he knew. 

Danzo was a Clan born shinobi, so I knew he must have a strict upbringing. He knew the hardship and the worst about shinobi art. And when a person was grown within such strict influence, they would grow to carry that hardness too. If they have nobody to hold them in check, they would carry on, bull-headedly, inside the view they had formed since their childhood. That pain was a must for gain. That sacrificing a man for the greater good was alright. That they knew everything and would do everything for the final gain they believed would be beneficial for  _ everyone _ . But they forgot what  _ everyone _ meant; because they lost their link to the greater society whom they should be serving. Just like any politician would, if immersed enough in a toxic environment, ending up focusing on the wish of the privileged minority/Clan.

“...What do you propose, then?” 

“We can start by having non combative missions, exchanging services of medical or assistance in nature that can be carried by both Shinobi or civilian professionals. Medical missions by our medic-nins or civilian doctors to other villages. Farming assistance missions. Civilian Art masters who could bring high value exports. Our teachers, shinobis and civilians alike, can be contracted to teach in other villages, bringing with them the influence of Konoha. Abolish the vile tradition of killing classmates to graduate from the Academy like Kiri, as they were the most certain way to demolish our Kekkei Genkai population. Focus on how to utilise economy to bring prosperity, shinobi and civilians alike. Shinobi art is not all about war, my Elder. The first Kunai was used to shovel soil for planting, afterall.” 

I added the bits about Kiri to quip him on his ROOT practices. I hoped he noticed. 

He sighed as if I was just a little child. Maybe I was a child from his POV. “You are too naive in your view, Child. How would you think the other Villages would see Konoha, if we continue with what you propose? Weakness is not something tolerable.  _ By fighting wars, people have created larger, more organised societies that have reduced the risk that their members will die violently*.  _ This is the way Konoha protects her villagers, like you. And we cannot win the war using our kunais to dig holes! _ ”  _

*(Ian Morris, War! What is it good for? Conflict and the progress of civilisation from primates to robots). 

“That is why I am arguing for other kinds of power, Sir. We can match them power to power, military to military, but after we defeat them, then what? The after-war loss and hardship only breed hate--and there would be another war brewing because it’s a circle of hate. What I am trying to argue is why can’t we find another way to fight the war--not with kindness, I am not that naive, Sir-- but with other means? Economy is a power as well. Education is another. The Daimyo himself would think twice to destroy a shinobi village who brings him the most tax! War destroys, but the economy controls prosperity.”

“Konoha is, and always will be, a shinobi village, Child. By her nature, we are fighters. Our business is war and protection. This civilian idea you argue is not suitable for Konoha. It’s a shinobi-eats-shinobi world out there. We managed to grow Konoha’s reputation as a strong shinobi precisely because we won the wars. Why do you think the Fire country is more peaceful than other nations? Our reputation as strong and capable shinobis keep the bandits and samurais from creating havoc. Do you think, if Konoha shinobis are famous for  _ farming _ , those bandits and samurais would care to keep their havoc to themselves?” 

“I concede to your point that war is the way to establish dominance, my Elder. But we have won the Second Shinobi War which was not even fought against the bandits and samurais, but were against shinobis. I understand that the Second Shinobi War has brought Konoha’s reputation as a strong Shinobi Village. Yet how many wars do we need to establish dominance? Instead, why don’t we keep the reputation, not by mongering another ‘shinobi’ war, but by keeping the peace? Konoha is the winner, we can establish the baseline in our favour. Konoha still would have her strong, capable shinobi. But Konoha can also have useful, helpful shinobis. We can show to the other Village that Shinobi are not just for fighting or killing.” 

I took a breath and caught myself. Danzo didn’t look like he was taking my points well, but I was glad he has yet to have Shisui’s sharingan. Although I suspected he already had at least one on his hand--courtesy to Uchiha Kagami. At least he has yet to have Mokuton since Orochimaru was with me and wouldn’t join ROOT. 

“... Do you know stronger men have been beheaded for speaking less than what you had?” he warned me. I could feel his KI around me, slowly suffocating. It was a power play, which I was quite familiar with. The need to assert dominance especially when someone brought forward strong arguments against your belief. The need to “save face”, especially for men in his position. 

“I… I am aware of that, Danzo-sama. However, I am not a strong man, I am a lowly housewife of whom bearing my Clan’s support for your candidacy. I am fully under your mercy, Sir. It’s only by your permission that I still have my head and my courage to speak up.”

_ Hook: I am not the rival to your alpha male-ness. I'm meek. You are safe with me. Keep your promise. _

“And you dare to challenge me on this?” 

“... I am not here to challenge you, Danzo-sama. I am here to bring forth other points of view that may be beneficial for Konoha as a whole. As per our discussion before, I’d love to keep Konoha strong too. And I would love to support my chosen leader. So please accept my suggestions as food for your thoughts, because I believe you are a strong leader for Konoha.”

_ Line: Bring forth trust to his strength and alpha maleness. Make the ideas his own, or at least for his own consumption. Be the support, not the contender.  _

“Do you remember why Shodaime-sama and Nidaime-sama founded this village, Sir? I believe it is to make peace, to prevent children turning into killers. War might be needed to establish dominance, but peace is the greater appeal. Smaller clans with Kekkei Genkai would want to seek refuge in Konoha, which in turn make Konoha a bigger Kekkei Genkai pot, which added to Konoha’s reputation. All we need to do is to keep the peace, and not add another war to it. And I am sure your leadership will bring Konoha to her greatest peak.”

_ Sinker: Appeal to the common heroes. Make him believe you are supporting him. Offers the best case scenario. _

Danzo looked at me for a long moment. I let him stewed on it. I knew my battle and how to pace them. 

“And what is your third request?”

_ Gotcha.  _

“Mandatory mental health support for all members of society, including shinobi. Especially for the active shinobi.” 

“Why? Are you suggesting that Konoha’s shinobi are unstable?” 

“I have two reasons why I dared to request this point, Danzo-sama. First, while stronger than civilian counterparts, Shinobi are generally exposed to high pressure situations that cause trauma on a good day, and craziness at its full peak. Providing mental health support is necessity, not luxury, for their stability. Otherwise you may lose the number of dependable active shinobi in your arsenal. 

Secondly, the impact of mental deterioration can affect a person’s ability to integrate into society. It not only affects adults, but children as well. In the end, we need to cultivate their link to the village. If we burn them carelessly, what would anchor them to Konoha when they lost their mind? I believe that by having a mental health support or safety net, we can reduce the number of nuke-nin.”

“... Understandable but not applicable. It’s just a waste of resources. A strong shinobi knows to keep their mind in check.” 

“And how many of them lived past thirty?” I challenged him. “A stable fighter is able to assess his battle and win. An unstable one fights with brute force and loses control. I believe people have a habit of becoming what you encourage them to be, not what you punish them to be.”

Silence filled the room. Danzo took a sip of his tea, while I still ignored mine. I didn’t want to take the risk of the tea being poisoned. I knew he didn’t prefer to have the shinobi sane, because it would be easier for him to control an unquestioning army compared to an individualistic one. After all, that was why he pushed away the Sannin, my husband, Minato and the Uchihas. But he recognised that, by having them untreated mentally, the number of his ROOT army declines faster than the rate of his recruitment. 

“Fine. I will think over your points. You bring forward some points that need to be thought further. As valid as some of your arguments are, you still miss the bigger picture. However, we shall discuss it at a later date. So, have you thought about my offer, Child?”

What offer? 

“.... What would you like to have in return, Danzo-sama?” I asked slowly. “You offered me to regain my chakra, knowing my clan… yet I couldn’t see what you can gain from this lowly housewife. How can I serve you, that others more qualified can’t?”

“Don’t look down on yourself, Child. Not many dared to speak what you have just proposed to me. And you carry the remnant of a very prestigious, yet technically extinct clan.” 

“Which was...?”

Danzo took a sip of tea. “Telling you would be part of the bargain. Do you accept?” 

“... What if I refuse?” Is that even an option? 

“You’ll find that your husband may or may not return home safely the next time he has a mission.” Danzo spoke coldly. “Afterall, while the Council has great interest in keeping him alive, there are other important missions that require… his  _ specialty _ .”

I paled. Impossible missions, the suicide missions. “But you have granted my clan your protection…!” 

“I have yet to fully agree to our deal, Child.” he calmly refuted. “I see that your son already shows great potential. In fact, he might be suitable for some other missions as well.”

_ No, not Kakashi _ . I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to my pup. I gritted my teeth. It was my risk because I came to him. I knew it and I took the risk. 

“... What do you require of me, Danzo-sama?” 

“After our discussion, there are two things I require of you. After all, while your clan support does matter, yet it is only one voice count against the Council. I need more than your clan support, Hatake Kaori. I need you to be my advisor, as well as be under my employment.” 

I blinked. 

Advisor, that was … not what I expected. He actually acknowledged my arguments and must have silently agreed to (at least some of) my points. Being his advisor allowed me to give him my opinion. But I didn’t know how much risk that would be, since I was indebted to Jiraiya and Nara. If they clashed, I didn’t think I could feign innocence anymore. 

“... Thank you for putting your trust on me, Danzo-sama. I am very flattered with the offer. However, it may clash with my current main one, which is the wife of Hatake Clan Head. I am not really useful in combat-”

“I will offer your clan my protection shall you accept, Child.” Danzo cut me. “And your position won’t be a combative one.” 

Ah. He has blocked my way out. 

I closed my eyes. I was selling my soul to the devil. I knew the risk when I came. I needed to face it and protect my family. 

“... This lowly housewife humbly accepts your offer, my Elder.”

“Good. I shall agree to your first term. We shall discuss the second and third terms further. You shall come here every Thursday to discuss things with me.” 

“... Understood, Danzo-sama.” 

“I grant you and your family the protection from the shadow.” 

Ah, so ROOT wouldn’t touch my family ever again. “Please accept my gratitude for your generosity, Sir.” I bowed from my seat. “... Also, what kind employment do you require from me?” 

“You will give me your DNA.” 

“Ibegyourpardon?” my tongue slipped. “What do you mean?” 

“You are, afterall, the last functioning descendant of the Kurama Clan. I have your blood test to prove it. I saw great potential in you, especially since you seem to naturally use genjutsu to make others feel calm and believe you. Your clan’s Kekkei Genkai has recorded high level natural genjutsu that can affect your environment. So I need you to give me your DNA, preferably a child of your genes.” 

_ Say what?  _

Uhm. No. A big no. What the hell. I did not make people calm and believe in me, it was just my attitude as a professional (albeit freelance) project manager. And I was confident and convincing because I knew the future plot of Narutoverse. No, I didn’t think he was right. And to give him any of my children? No way. No freaking way. 

“Do you mean… I need to  _ physically _ provide you a child?” 

Danzo raised his eyebrows. “Don’t be crude, Child. I need your 100% Kurama DNA, not mixing it with any other clan.”

Hey. My husband has superior sperm, you know! “...And how would you do that, Danzo-sama?”

“I believe Orochimaru has been studying DNA replication and cloning technology. You would be able to convince him to help you.” 

Uhm.  How about no?  I needed to make a clone and forced Orochimaru to help me?  _ No way. _ Get your own DNA!  “... I thought there were still Kurama clan members around?”

He almost sneered, “With the inbreeding and their instability, there are barely any left. And none of them carry the Clan’s Kekkei Genkai, unlike you.” 

“.. And how did you get my blood in the first place?” I asked, but then I realised that the only place I had willingly given my blood was check up with Yui-sensei in the hospital. Did that mean she was working for Danzo? And why didn’t she take my DNA anyway, if she was? Danzo didn’t need to ask me personally like this. Except if there was a limitation or certain condition required to get a working DNA.

All these questions made me dizzy. And more or less, I gained what I had hoped for: the promise of ROOT never touching my family again. If he wanted me to be a sounding board, then be it. I just needed to explain it to my husband.  Now that I thought about it, I didn’t think it would end well. Sakumo wouldn’t accept this. And I had sort of given away his chance to be the Hokage. Not that he wanted it, though. 

Danzo’s answer brought me back to the present. “I have my way, Child.” 

“... Can’t you just take my skin cells or hair follicle and do the cloning?”

He looked at me funnily. “Kekkei Genkai DNA harvest needs certain conditions, Kaori-san. It’s not something you can make out of a piece of skin.” 

Did it mean I would need to give him a piece of me? A limb perhaps? How did Orochimaru harvest Senju Hashirama’s cell in the first place? The man was dead! There were only bones left in his graveyard… wait. Was I to donate my bone to Danzo?  Oh the pain. I couldn’t imagine what bone I would need to donate to this man. I needed every single bone in my body. Funny bone, perhaps?  _ Damn, _ I need to talk to Orochimaru about this. And I wasn’t even sure-- I meant, the DNA test and everything, but I was not sure Kaori was Kurama clan. This was just one giant trainwreck.

“... Thank you for our discussion, Danzo-sama. I request your permission to retire for now, and I will see you again next week for our discussion.” 

* * *

I was escorted out of the compound and I felt like I had aged ten years. 

The afternoon sunlight felt so warm on my clammy skin. It was past lunchtime and I didn’t feel the hunger at all, just tiredness. Dirty. 

What have I done? I never would have guessed this would be where I ended up. I was so happy when I came to this world, planning to play as a housewife to a handsome husband and an adorable son. And here I was. Selling myself to the demon, arguing with a military dictator. Have I stayed in my own world, I wouldn’t even dare to send an email to my state representative, let alone argued with the likes of the president. All because my action has consequences, because I took the risk to keep my family safe. These… supposedly fictional characters have wormed their ways into my heart. 

One day at a time, I guess. 

With great effort I finally reached the day care. I was greeted by one of the staff, and was told to wait for my son to come out from the room. Sitting on the bench, I watched the children, playing ninjas and blocks and drawing, so cute, peaceful. 

It was ages ago I was one of them. I didn’t want to be a child again, but I missed the carefree life they had. All I needed to worry about was whether to have curry or banana for dinner. And these kids would enter the Academy and be trained as killing machines or cannon fodders. Just .. a waste of potential, wouldn’t it? 

In the book Sapiens: Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari argued that homo sapiens, like any other living organism, live for the purpose of reproduction. To pass along their genes to the next generation. The strongest species win. That collective objective was the sole reason why humans lived; and that collective objective often ended up with individual sufferings. Case in point: chicken is one the best spesies because there are more chickens than humans. But were they happy with their lives? Living in close space, eating and pooping on the same spot because they were just bred to be broilers. Are we the same? 

Was it the same with Konoha? As a species, Konoha won. But as an individual clan, Konoha loses. The number of strong clans declined. There was not much Senju left. Hatake only has my husband and my children. The Kurama clan, according to Danzo’s words, was almost extinct. Uchiha would barely survive after the massacre. Most of the families in Boruto has one child only -- by my calculation, it would create an inverted triangle population style. Dwindling to nothing. All for what? 

Power? Authority? Money? 

What a joke. 

I was brought away from my musings when Kinoe’s little arms circled my thighs. 

“Kaa-chan!” he called me. It made me so happy to see him smiling. When he first came to my care, he didn’t even have an emotion. His big, owl-ly eyes stared at me, cheek flushing. 

“Hello, my mokuton baby,” I whispered softly and pulled him into my arms. “How was your day?”

“Play with friends.” he smiled and patted my cheeks. “Miss Kaa-chan.”

He called me Kaa-chan. This innocent soul called me his mother. How could I not protect him? 

“Miss you too, baby.” I whispered into his hair. “Let’s go home?” 

* * *

Sakumo was home when I reached the Hatake compound. He met me by the door, looking worried. 

“Where did you go, love?” he asked, smiling but it couldn’t hide his worry. He has become a bit clingy over me. “I couldn’t find you. And why are you wearing that kimono?”

“I took Kinoe for a walk, didn’t we, Kinoe?” 

My mokuton baby just squealed and reached for Sakumo. My husband caught him and let me take off Kinoe’s little sandals. 

“...I need to talk to you about something, Hubby.” I started while taking off my own sandals.

“Hmm?” he asked, while watching my face. “...What’s wrong, Kaori?”

“...promise me you’ll still love me after we talk?” I stared into his grey eyes. “I need to tell you but I am afraid once I do, you’ll hate me.” 

“I can never hate you, Kaori.” he turned serious, knowing I wasn’t joking. “What is it?”

I let him follow me to our bedroom. I pulled the bed, reaching for the book I wrote about the future. But it wasn’t there. I panicked and checked the other side. But there was no book. 

The book was gone. 

Who took it? 

“What are you looking for, wife?” he asked, helping me pull the bed. “Did you hide some secret stash under our bed or something?” 

Ah. I couldn’t just shove the book at Sakumo and let him read then. I needed to do it the hard way. And someone has stolen my book. What the hell. Nothing made sense today. 

“Alright.” Let’s count to ten. One. Two. “Let’s talk, Sakumo.” 

I should have counted to ten. 

* * *

We put Kinoe down on his bed for his afternoon nap. I made some tea and put it on the table. It felt like we were back in our usual night time, discussing things together. 

“... There is something I need to confess, Sakumo.” 

He looked at me, waiting. 

“I… I know about your last mission. I… I kind of know that it would be sabotaged. By ROOT.” 

“How do you know… my mission? Sabotaged? And ROOT was disbanded!” 

“No, Hubby. Danzo-sama still directs ROOT. I knew he would target you because of the Hokage candidacy. So… so I asked Jiraiya-san for help.” 

“... So that’s why he found me right on time, eh?”

“Yes. and that’s why Minato-san was here. He was tasked to keep me from ANBU. Ah, please let me finish. Jiraiya worked together with Nara-sama. So Nara-sama took me for a questioning of where I get to know about your last mission and the potential sabotage.”

“Kaori.” he paled, his hands clenched into tight fists. I reached out to touch him, but he took away his hand from me. “... Continue, please.” 

He was angry, very angry at me. It made my heart ache so much. 

“... So today, I went to… Danzo-sama’s place and told him we support his candidacy for Hokage. You won’t be forced to take the seat anymore. And he … he requested me as his advisor, in exchange for our protection..”

My husband growled and punched the sofa. I flinched. It was the first time he was so angry that he showed it physically in front of me. His jaw was clenched in rage and he refused to see me. 

I couldn’t breathe. “... I am sorry.” 

He growled in rage. “What use is your apology? You treat yourself so … so lightly. What if anything happens to you? Have you thought about it? What would happen to me? To Kakashi? How can I … I don't even know, Kaori. Do you even trust me as your husband? Is this all a joke for you?” 

“I don’t mean that, Hubby, I …!” 

“You are important. You are my wife, my responsibility. How can I protect you, if you tempt fate all the time? This is not a game, Kaori. This is real. You can be dead any time and I wouldn’t even know. Why… how can you be this selfish?” 

No. I wasn’t selfish, was I? So I cried, “I only wanted to save you! I don’t want your mission to fail! That’s all!” 

  
He hollowly chuckled, “I promised you to leave the protection to me, didn’t I? Why won’t you trust me?”

My eyes were blurry. “I do, Sakumo, I trust you!” 

“Then why would you go to Danzo? Why don’t you just tell me!?” he roared.

“Because he wanted to take Kakashi too! I don’t know what to do!” 

Sakumo’s hand covered his face, hiding me from his emotion. 

“You promised, Sakumo. You won’t hate me after I tell you this.” I tried and reached out for him. “Please…”

“Don’t touch me, Kaori. I can’t handle this now.” he croaked. “I need to..to think.” 

“...I love you, Sakumo.” 

“...And I love you, but you don’t see me going around searching for danger, do you?”

That was low. “I didn’t search for danger! I only want the best for you and Kakashi!” 

“And your best … is this? Do you even care about our baby inside of you? Do you even… take this seriously? Why would you endanger them to go around and visit Danzo?”

“Take that back!” I cried. “I love my baby! I care!” 

“I don’t know, Kaori. Do you actually care?” he stared at me, face serious. “Do you even care if you die? Do you realise how disrespectful it is for you to keep deciding things on your own, never discussing it with me, your  _ partner _ , like you said? I kept finding it after things happened. I was so worried about your stupid book, and now you go and belittle my worry by going to the shadow kage himself. Loving us doesn’t give you a pass to decide things on your own, just because it’s for ‘our sake’!”

I was sobbing by this point. My head was spinning and my chest tightening. _ No _ , I wanted to scream.  _ No, I really do care about you _ ! But he was right. I was playing with my knowledge and my position as someone from outside. I said I loved him, but I never cared about how worried he was about me. Not until I watched him explode like this. 

He grimaced, like he wanted to cry. “I had experienced waiting for you to open your eyes once before, Kaori. Let me tell you, it wasn’t fun. I refused to wait by your bedside again. What if this time… you won’t wake up?”   
  


“Please stop.” I begged. “Please. I am sorry. I am, very, very sorry.” 

“... Don’t wait for me tonight.” Sakumo said before he went away, shunshin-ed before I could call him. 

I whimpered and started to cry earnestly. 

* * *

“Kaa-chan, Tou-chan, I am home!” Kakashi’s voice called me back from my misery. I quickly wiped off my tears and snot, wishing my eyes wouldn’t be too swollen. 

“Kaa-chan?” Kakashi called when he saw me lying on the sofa. “You alright?”

“I am fine, Kakashi.” I tried to smile but my voice sounded funny even to my own ears. “How was your day?” 

Kakashi just watched me. “... It was boring, Kaa-chan.”

I chuckled wetly. “Do you want some snacks? I’ll cut some fruits for you. Ah, please wake Kinoe too.”

Kakashi nodded and went to get his brother, while I slowly aimed to prepare some snacks. I didn’t even know why we fought anymore. I kept replaying our fight inside my head, wondering what I said wrong, why he overreacted. But I knew it was mostly my fault for treating him like that. I told him we were  _ partners _ . Yet I treated him like one of my kids, protecting him with kiddie gloves and didn’t tell him anything. But was it wrong? 

My head just spinned on the same circle, again and again. Questioning every single thing. I knew both of us were over-reacting. But I also believed both of us had faults as well. 

My pups ate their snacks in usual banter, and it helped to soothe my pain. When I asked what they wanted to do that afternoon, Kakashi said he got homework, so we ended up on the table, Kakashi doing homework and I tried to write for my books. Kinoe sat beside us, playing with his rubber kunai and sprouting random leaves. 

“Kaa-chan,” Kakashi suddenly asked me. “Please tell us some story?” 

I sighed and closed my pen. 

“Alright. Come here, you two.” I spread my arms so they would cuddle to me. “This is a story about a boy named Naruto.” 

“Like the ramen topping?” Kakashi cut.

“Yes, like the ramen topping. And he loves to eat ramen so much he could eat 10 bowls in one sitting. But both of you should never do that, because it will give you tummy ache.” 

Both Kakashi and Kinoe nodded, so I continued. 

“He was an orphan, and grew up in an orphanage in a village just like Konoha. He was lonely, because no one would play with him. He wanted to be the Kage of his village, to prove himself. Because he has no one caring for him. The only one who would look at him were his teacher and the ramen stand owner. 

But he was strong, Naruto was. He turned the loneliness into a determination to succeed. Alas, he was an orphan. No one helped him study. He was the dead last in the Academy. But he kept trying. He failed his graduation test multiple times. Until one day, one teacher told him to steal a forbidden jutsu from the Kage’s library. He was very trusting, and so he stole it.”

“...he should ask “why”, right, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi spoke out. “You should not trust strangers.” 

“Yes, Kakashi. You are right. But Naruto has no parents to tell him that. So he believed the teacher and stole them and it turned out that teacher was a bad man. He told Naruto that he was a monster because he had a monster sealed inside of him.”

“Like… Jinchuuriki?”

I nodded. “Yes. He was a jinchuuriki. He found out his father and mother died sealing the monster into him when he was born. The monster was running amok and destroyed half their village. And that’s why the villagers were afraid of Naruto.” 

“Why would they be afraid of a little boy? He is not the monster.”

“But they didn’t know, Kakashi. They thought he was a monster because a monster was sealed inside of him. Truthfully, every single one of adults have little monsters inside their heads. I have one too. But I control my monsters so I can keep my head clear and cook Kakashi’s miso eggplant. Some adults can’t do that and so they become hateful.” 

“What happened to Naruto, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi asked, while Kinoe listened to us very closely. 

  
  
“His beloved teacher helped Naruto to catch the bad guy. They ended up hurt, but they returned the scroll to the Kage. And Naruto passed his test. But it wasn’t the end. He joined a team with a little girl with pink hair called Sakura, an Uchiha named Sasuke, and a teacher called Kakashi.” 

“That’s my name!” Kakashi crowed and Kinoe nodded with glee. 

“Yes, he was named like you, pup. Their team is not perfect, but they keep training together. They face lots of challenges, fight a lot of bad guys, and there is this group called Akatsuki who wants to capture all jinchuuriki. Naruto is the target. He was sad, because Akatsuki is so strong. He doesn’t want to hurt his team when they protect him. But their team just smiles, because they are a team, and it’s one for all or all for none. Naruto fights the Akatsuki, and he realises he is not alone. Alas, the Akatsuki is actually controlled by Zetsu.” 

“Zetsu, from Kaguya stories, Kaa-chan?”

“Yes, Kakashi. You still remember?” 

“Of course, Kaa-chan.” 

“Good. So, they fight together. It is bad and hard, but because they have each other, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, they manage to defeat Zetsu and Kaguya. So you see, individually they are not strong enough, but together, they are undefeatable.” 

“... Will I have a team like that, Kaa-chan?” Kakashi asked me. “Will I have a ‘Kakashi’ teacher too?”

I smiled and rubbed his cheek. “I know you will, Kakashi. Give your team a chance, and your teacher your respect. They will be your family too. And together you will be undefeatable. Kakashi is a hard working, diligent, kind boy. I am very proud of you for that.”

Kakashi grinned behind his mask and rubbed his head onto my chest, like a puppy scenting his mother. Kinoe watched his brother and did it to me too. I laughed and hugged them tighter. 

“Kinoe will grow big too.” I kissed my mokuton baby. “You will be strong, special because of your leaves. But never look down on yourself, Kinoe. Uniqueness is not something to be shameful about.” 

Kinoe just blinked at me. Kakashi tilted his head. “I will protect Kinoe, Kaa-chan.” 

“Thank you, Kakashi. You two will protect each other, because you are brothers.” I smiled. “Promise me?” Kakashi nodded and I put my hand on top of mine, then put Kinoe’s. “Promise Kaa-chan you will take care of each other, alright?” 

_ Just in case if I was not here to protect you.  _

* * *

**Bonus scene (thanks to FunnyFen!):**

Sakumo decided that alcohol was overrated. He sighed. It was his second glass, but he wanted no more. He just wanted to kick something. To prove he wasn’t weak. His own wife didn’t trust his strength and ran to the dangerous shadow kage for protection. He was ashamed of it. He was not strong enough for Kaori. 

Why wasn’t he enough? 

“You look awful.” Jiraiya smacked his back. Sakumo grunted and pushed his glass to the Frog Sannin. “... problem in paradise?” 

Sakumo huffed and closed his eyes. He regretted it immediately, because all he could see was Kaori sobbing on the sofa, begging for his forgiveness. Sakumo didn’t want that. He wanted Kaori’s smile, not tears. He was not … he wasn’t angry at her. He was angry at himself and vented it on her. 

But she might die… and she didn’t even think to tell him. 

“How do you do relationship, Raiya?” Sakumo laughed humorlessly. 

“... How the hell would I know? You and Kaori are my benchmark of a healthy relationship, Sakumo.” 

“I wish I am stronger, more perfect. She deserves more, Raiya. More than this… useless me.” 

“I won’t call you useless, brother. Last I checked, the White Fang worths special S rank bounty in the Kiri, Kumo, Suna and all other bingo books.” 

He huffed. Apparently he was not strong enough for Kaori to depend on. It was what he was angry about. How she couldn’t trust him with her fears, yet he put all his vulnerabilities on her. She was able to subdue him in the hospital, shielded him from grief and called him back to living. Because she was there, he was able to stand back up. Passing the information of Weasel’s death wasn’t easy. But they thanked him instead. Just like what Kaori said. 

_ You need to forgive yourself first, Hubby.  _

She was just … so  _ good _ . 

And he was useless. 

It made him so angry at himself. 

“Hey. stop that angsty look. You’ll attract chicks and I won’t get any.” Jiraiya squeezed his shoulder. “And it’s a pity you only see Kaori. There are many who would turn gay for you, you know.” 

“...You too?” Sakumo chuckled. 

Jiraiya laughed. “Nah. I like me some boobs. And long hair. Straight black hair, preferably. Pale skin, Slim. beautiful…”

Sakumo huffed, “... It sounded like Orochimaru, Raiya.”

Jiraiya looked stunned, and like a delayed reaction, blushed. “What the hell!? It’s not even funny, Kumo!”

The White Fang just laughed at his red best friend, still sputtering swear words and trying to prove how ungay he was. “I’ll prove to you how straight I am! My next book will be a porn series, mark my words! And for laughing at me, you two will be my main character!” 

“... Don’t bring Kaori into this, you idiot.” Sakumo snorted inelegantly. “I am hungry. Buy me some food, will you?”

“Why should I?” 

“Well, I helped you find your sexuality, so…” 

“Damn you, Sakumo.” Jiraiya huffed. And then he shrugged. “Whatever you do, just tell her you are sorry.” 

“Huh?”

“I’ve seen you two, brother. She loves you and Kakashi very much. Whatever you did, or whatever she did, she did it for you.” 

“Oh. You know about the sabotage, right?”

“...That was why you had a fight?” Jiraiya took a sip of sake. “Why would you fight over it?”

“... She didn’t trust me enough to warn me or to tell me? Am I that weak, Raiya?”

“Brother, love makes people  _ stupid _ . She was afraid you’ll hate her. She begged me to save you, you know. If I haven’t been convinced she loves you, that does it. Not everyday I get a woman threatening me because I won’t move to help you, Kumo.” 

“She threatened you?”

“Yeah. she was super scary about it too. She has the ball of steels, she does. You didn't see how she talked to Shikaen.”

Sakumo’s stomach clenched. Yes, Kaori faced Nara Shikaen and still survived. 

Jiraiya huffed and took another sip. “This sake is so good, man. … Whatever you are angry about, just believe that she did it out of love for you.” 

“She went to Danzo this morning.” 

“WHAT.” Jiraiya coughed because his sake went to the wrong pipe. “What!?” he croaked. 

“She became his… advisor? In return for our family’s protection.” 

“Shit. I think I need to inform Shikaen about this.” Jiraiya coughed again. “This is bad.” 

“Why?” Sakumo turned to Jiraiya, this time with more interest. 

“Well, aside how crazy fuckup Danzo is, your wife is a weird gold mine of information, you know. Shikaen will skin me if Danzo get to her first.”

“Is she in danger now?” Sakumo started to be more alarmed. 

“Uh. Maybe. It’s better you keep your eyes on her for now.” Jiraiya put some money on the table. “I need to go and tell Shikaen too.” 

Sakumo didn’t wait and quickly shunshin-ed back to his house. 

(Kaori’s welcoming smile (which turned to waterworks quickly) hurt his chest. But he apologised before she did, and Kakashi told them over his bowl of rice to hug it off because he didn’t like his Kaa-chan crying, so Sakumo did. 

And it was not fine, but it was better than before.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you @FunnyFen for giving me so many fun prompts as well as the way to calm down the angst in this chapter! Will do the rest of the prompt in future chapters, I promise. her amazing prompts can be read on the comments section, if you are interested :)
> 
> Thank you for your help on kofi. It really helps me go through this hard time. I cannot thank you enough. Please PM me shall you want a drabble or a pic, I will strive to fulfill your wish. Thank you again. *bow*


	17. Que Sera Sera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OC confessed to Sakumo about (almost) everything. 
> 
> Hetero SMUT alert!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hetero Smut alert! (I almost died writing it while my own parents walking behind me -- I moved back to my parents space to save money, hoho).

I felt like I was under interrogation, and maybe I was. After tucking the kids into their beds, we retired to our bedroom and Sakumo sealed it with more elaborate privacy seals than usual. We ended up sitting on our side of the bed, with a distance between us. I felt even tenser compared when I faced Danzo or Shikaen, because I care about Sakumo’s opinion of me more. My husband looked stern and emotionless. I just realised maybe I was facing the real White Fang, the face he never showed to me or Kakashi. 

Was I degraded to the level of a criminal now? It made me want to cry. 

“Kaori,” he spoke softly. “Please tell me everything.” 

“What do you want to know?” 

“Everything.” 

“...And if you don’t like it, would you leave me?” 

Sakumo stared at me. I looked away, refusing to show my fear. Ah would this be the end of us? Would he ask me to leave? Would I be a single mother? How could I keep this relationship? I didn’t want to break up. Not with the kids and… 

If this was my past relationship, I would have broken up with my partner because I didn’t want too much baggage. I was very good at running away from my relationship problems. Marriage was very new. I played along with this because I had stupid crushes on anime characters. Yet now, it was real. I was actually married to someone. Regardless he was real or not, we have kids together. My choices weren’t just mine to make. My choices hurt my partner. Now I know why people said marriage was not easy. All my choices have consequences which I couldn’t run from. It didn’t feel fair because I was punished for something I did to keep them safe. 

“Why?” he asked instead. “Why do you think I’ll leave you?”

“Because… Because you won’t want me anymore?”

He grimaced. “Kaori, I know we seldom fight, so this may be new to us. But I don’t think one fight will break us up. You keep telling me to tell you everything I feel. Now I need you to do the same for me. I want to know why you do what you did.” he took my hand. I twitched in disbelief, because he said he didn’t want me to touch him when we fought before. “... Do you regret being with me?” 

“No!” I reflexively refuted his question. “I never regretted you or any of our kids.” 

His small smile soothed my chest a bit. “I never regretted being with you either. I apologise for shouting and leaving. I was just scared for you. I cannot imagine what will happen if I lose you. I was driven by fear which made me stupid. I feel that I am never around enough, especially when you need me. I was angry because I feel you don’t trust me. Am I that weak, Kaori, until you cannot even trust me to protect us?” 

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. “You are not weak. I was… I was worried you would get hurt. I didn’t want that. I was driven by fear and I want to settle everything so you and Kakashi won’t need to know a thing. I am sorry I took actions without telling you. I know it isn’t fair for you when I one-sidedly decide for us. I thought I know best, but I was just that: too arrogant. I really didn’t mean to scare you or make you feel weak.”

“I understand that you are quite independent and you want to protect us,” Sakumo slowly slipped his fingers around my wrist. “But so do I. I want to protect us too. We are partners, aren’t we? I need you to depend on me more, otherwise our actions might be redundant or even cancel each other out. Also, we need to discuss things before we make any decisions. You have the tendency to overlook certain ...security details.” 

I nodded. “Yes. I’ll… try.” 

“So… let’s move forward?” 

“Yes, please.” I whispered and smiled. “Forgive me?”

“If you forgive me as well.” he smiled back at me, and opened his arms. I quickly climbed to his lap. He curled his arms around my body and I buried myself on his neck. I felt relieved. We were not breaking up. We were not fine, but we were trying. He gave me a chance. 

“I love you, Sakumo.” I whispered. “You are the best husband anyone can ask for. I am very lucky to have you.” 

Sakumo huffed, “That’s my line, love. I love you too. Please keep in mind you are bearing our newest child, Kaori.” 

I closed my eyes and asked for a kiss. He let me and we kissed for a long moment. I have missed this, his warmth, his closeness and his taste. His kiss was intense, a continuation of the first kiss he gave me when I woke up in this world. We had sex yesterday night, but it seemed so far away. This felt different. This was not lust. This closeness was something new, felt like we have entered a new, improved stage of relationship. 

When I pulled away, he bit my lower lip for a moment before letting me go. 

“Are you ready to tell me?” he asked huskily. I could hear his heart thumping because we were so close. I looked into his eyes, grey meeting mine. His eyes showed me trust and love. Was this how it felt to share your life with someone? 

(Well, actually I was not the Kaori they knew. I was an intruder, I had no right demanding love from them. I was not the Kaori Sakumo married. I was just a busy-body imposter. I hated this self-angst and guilt, but I would be staying now. I realised belatedly that this might be the reason why I was so afraid to be honest to Sakumo as he might see me differently if he knew I was not Kaori. So I decided not to tell him about this. Just this. 

_ I am sorry, Kaori-san. I am taking your place. I am sorry and thank you.  _ )

“Yes.” I nodded. “Let’s get comfortable. It is a long story.” 

* * *

So I told him about my Narutoverse plot knowledge, about how the future would play if Kaori didn’t survive. I told him I got the sights from dreams I had after the operations. I insinuated that I lost a bit of my old memories, but had visions of what would happen. I started on Sakumo’s failed mission, about how it became the trigger for Third Shinobi War and about how he would commit suicide because of the failure. 

Sakumo’s breathing became heavy. I gently touched his cheek, moulding my body to fit better into his. “Being a shinobi is hard on both physical and mental states. I know you have been having some problems, Sakumo. That’s why I don’t want you to take that mission, because it would only bring you more torment. I don’t want to lose you. That is not your fault.” 

When he didn’t react, I continued to tell him about how Kakashi was left alone. Becoming aloof and cold, because he has no one to guide him. Our pup was just six at most, and he grew to be a broken man. 

“I cannot condone Kakashi to a life like that.” I whispered. “That’s why I am doing all I can do to give him a support system. I want him to know we love him and proud of him. I want him to be able to open up to people. I want him safe and healthy. I just want the best for him and you. That’s why… I went to Danzo-sama.” 

“Why?” Sakumo whispered dangerously. 

“Because he is the one sending his ROOTs to sabotage you. He did it because he wanted the Hokage seat for himself, not just for the position itself, but also for the authority to make Konoha stronger, or as strong as he believed what strength is. He has this view that Konoha was only as strong as her military prowess, which needs to be continually enforced through winning wars after wars, trying to enlarge Konoha’s grasp over other villages. Being the Hokage would ease him to enforce his vision. I know another major war is on the horizon, with the current fragile relationship between the hidden villages. But from my dream, I foresee that it can actually be settled quicker and more peaceful, if only Danzo-sama stopped trying to manipulate from the shadows.”

“Maybe we should bring this knowledge to the Hokage.” Sakumo asked, while stroking my hand. “This is not something that we can solve by our own, Love.”

I shook my head. “The Hokage knows, Hubby. He let Danzo-sama have it because it was the necessary evil. After all, Sandaime is a human too, and a tired leader. He is too kind to take drastic measures himself. I also don’t have proof about this, either, so I don’t think he will trust me, or let me spread this issue.” 

He pulled me closer. 

I closed my eyes. “Do you… Do you trust me?”

Sakumo sighed. “Honestly? I don’t know what to say. I don’t like what I hear from you. The future seemed so… depressing. But then again, I can see how it can turn into that, had you...  _ died _ and left us. I also can see what you mean with Hokage-sama. He does have some blindspots for his former teammates. So I can see how this knowledge forced you to do what you did.” 

I looked up to him, “...Please believe me that I only want the best for us.” 

“Of course. I believe you, Kaori.” Sakumo kissed my temple. “So how about the Third Shinobi war?” 

“Konoha will go to war against Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri. It will mostly fight in the smaller villages like Amegakure. Danzo-sama will ally with Hanzo the Salamander in return for promised mutual help to be the Hokage in the future. The war will last five years or more, because of the sabotages and whatnots. Eventually, Konoha will win but at the expense of our pup.”

Sakumo stiffened. “Kakashi?”

“Yes. In my dream, he will be sent to a dangerous vital mission to blow up a bridge that connects supply to Iwagakure. Although the mission will be successful and the war will end not long after that, Kakashi will lose his team mate and his own eye.” 

“That’s…” Sakumo sighed and tightened his arms around me. “That’s very bad.” 

I nodded. “The Third Shinobi War will take your life and our pup’s happiness. He will go down a bad path, taking suicide missions over and over. I just can't let that be. That is why I agreed to be Danzo-sama’s advisor. At least I can try to change Danzo-sama’s view. He also promised he would protect us, and with your withdrawal from next Hokage candidacy, I think we have at least avoided the worst.” 

“Alright.” Sakumo sighed again. “Alright.” 

“I know it’s very heavy and hard to believe.” I touched his chest. “Take your time, Hubby.” 

“And I let you have all this information to stew by yourself.” he muttered in guilt. “I am sorry, Kaori.” 

I shook my head. “There’s nothing to forgive, Hubby. I am sorry for thinking you won’t believe me too. This is just so … unbelievable.” 

“Have you told anyone else about this?” 

“I have told some parts of it. I told Jiraiya and Minato so they would help you in your missions. Also, Nara-sama and Yamanaka-sama too. They would want to meet me again soon about this, I think. But you are the only one whom I tell this details, especially about our pup.” 

“Right.” Sakumo patted my hair. “Fine. When they call you, I shall be by your side. Tell them I won’t let you speak to them without me accompanying you.” 

“But what if you are away on missions?” 

“I will try to refuse as many missions as I can,” He scowled. “I can probably request early retirement.” 

I stared at him. “Not that I am not happy if you want to retire, but you are one of the top Jounin. I don’t think the Hokage would let you, Hubby.” 

“Let me think about that. You don’t need to worry. Anyway, what is your deal with Danzo-sama?”

“I asked him for our protection, some betterment for Konoha’s economy and mental health service. In return, I will be his advisor and… I will give him my DNA.” 

“What for?” Sakumo asked hurriedly. “Why would he want that?” 

“Apparently I am of the Kurama clan. I think I am probably a bastard child or something. He wanted to clone my supposed Kekkei Genkai.” 

“You have Kekkei Genkai?” 

“Danzo-sama said I naturally give out genjutsu that makes people calm and believe in me.” I shrugged. My husband frowned and touched my cheek. “I don’t really understand nor do I care. I don’t think it’s true. For me, I am just a clanless orphan. I don’t have chakra either. But Danzo-sama seemed to believe it, and it put me with some kind of value in his eyes.” 

“... I don’t know about Kekkei Genkai or not, but I always feel calmer around you, Love.” my husband smiled. “And I can see our kids and Orochimaru do too. But maybe I am biased.” 

“Thank you.” I smiled back. “I am flattered.” 

“But it does kind of explain your imagination and … soothsayer ability. The Kurama clan is famous for their genjutsu, but also for their oracles. It is very rare, but rumours said there were one or two clairvoyants within their clan whom they guarded very much since the Warring Era.”

I didn’t know what to say. I knew what I know because I was not a Narutoverse character. But maybe the real Kaori might have the ability and that was why she was compatible with my soul. That might be true with her genjutsu ability pre-her-last-disastrous-mission and imagination to write books. But that would open another can of worms I don’t have energy to face, so I shook my head instead. “Can we continue this later, Hubby? I am sleepy.” I begged. 

He relented. “Yes, let’s discuss this later. It’s enough for tonight. You need to rest.” 

I kissed him. “... Do you still trust me?”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes.” 

“You don’t hate me?”

He kissed my lips chastely. “Never. Thank you for sharing it with me. Let’s talk later. Let me protect you, alright? You just focus on bringing our baby to the world.” 

“Alright.” I flushed and smiled. “Thank you. You are the best husband in the world.” 

“Flattery brings you nowhere.” Sakumo grinned. 

“But it brings me to you.” I grinned cheekily. He chuckled. 

“Alright. Sweet dream, Love.” he kissed my temple and I put my head on his chest. 

I felt safe and warm with his arms around me. 

* * *

**[SMUT alert]**

Morning came too soon. 

I buried myself into the blanket, seeking warmth from the body next to me. A pair of arms slipped around my middle, squeezing me tight. My husband’s scent filled my head, making me feel safe and … aroused. 

“Hubby…” I asked hoarsely, blinking away my sleepiness into lust. “...please fuck me?” 

Sakumo didn’t answer, but his mouth found my neck and sucked it just right. I loved it when he was possessive enough to decorate my skin with hickeys. His hands slowly caressed my top, cupping my breasts and flicking my nipples. I was very sensitive, and his hands were just the right kind of warm. Before long, I could feel my nipples stiffened. 

“Oh!” I loved my obedient husband. “Yes!” 

I caught his grin before he dove into my chest and started to  _ suck  _ my clothed nipples. Giving him encouragement, I slung my arms around his head and pushed him deeper into my chest. 

“More.” I moaned, lust filled my head. “Please, Hubby!” 

He didn’t answer, but I could feel his smile on my chest. 

Next thing I knew, we both stripped from our clothes and started nekkid fun time. 

We spent the next half an hour playing with each other--I got the chance to enjoy licking and sucking his dick while he lapped on my clit. When I was shivering and drenched, he turned over and finally entered me with all his glory. His thrusts were hard and pushing, and my body moulded just right around him. We were panting erratically, chasing our orgasms together. His body was just right on me, his thrusts made my body flushed. As if he was trying to put in another baby in me--which maybe he could. I let myself lost in the moment’s passion, moaning his name and scratching his back. 

It was all over too soon for me. I shuddered with the intensity of my pleasure, then basking it in by kissing my husband’s lips. He locked his lips with mine and we were truly joined together, top and bottom. Then he chased for his own pleasure--not that I mind, because pregnancy appetite was insatiable. I helped him by opening my legs even wider and played with my own clit--that did it for him. His last thrust was borderline painful and not a moment later I felt his seed covering my insides. I constricted my own muscle, making him moan on top of me. He finished me off the second time by sucking my nipples greedily until I climaxed just from it.

“I expect morning sex from now on until I cannot move my body, Hubby.” I chuckled. “Baby’s order.” 

He pulled away with a grin and kissed my shoulder. His body was flushed and sweaty, just like mine. Our scents intermingled. I took his hand and our fingers locked. 

“...Did we lock the door? Kakashi is going to barge in any minute now.” I asked in (a bit of) panic. 

“My seal is still on.” Sakumo grinned, still. “Want to have another one?” 

“Oh, I haven’t even given birth to this one yet.” I smiled back, deliberately taking his offer of another round and mistaking it for another baby instead, just to tease him. “And you already want to fill me again?”

“I can certainly try.” was his reply to the challenge.

I huffed with laughter. Ah. It felt just nice. “...Can we stay like this? Leave this… this mess, take everyone with us, make a farm somewhere and live in peace until Kakashi grows up and has kids on his own.” 

“Hmm.” Sakumo indulged me, squeezing our hands. 

“If anything happens, Sakumo, please promise me you’ll take the kids away.” I murmured. “Take them, take us away from Konoha. Don’t let them be the village’s pawn like we are. They deserve the freedom to choose their life.” 

He didn’t reply and just held me tight onto his chest. I savored the moment, keeping his warmth on my skin. I understood why he didn’t want to promise because it would be a very hard task indeed. Leaving the village to freedom was a challenge, but surviving outside was also another challenge in itself. I didn’t know what the future would bring, so instead, I would enjoy this moment as much as I could. 

**[SMUT done]**

* * *

A toad appeared in the middle of our dining table when we were having our breakfast. 

I turned to Sakumo. Kakashi and Tenzou looked interested. The toad proceeded to deliver the invitation for a meeting with the Jounin Commander. The invitation itself didn’t mention whom to go, so I glanced at my husband and he nodded. He would come with me. 

Kakashi stared at both of us in curiosity. I told him he would be late if he didn’t hurry, so my son reluctantly finished his rice and put the bowl in the sink before leaving for school. After putting Kinoe in the daycare, Sakumo took me to the Jounin HQ. 

While we were almost reaching the Jounin HQ building, I was sure a ROOT agent followed us because I had this nagging feeling by the back of my head. When I told Sakumo that, he stiffened, then nodded and flashed a few hand signs. It triggered a motion: a blur of bodies appeared from the air, and a spark of light started a high-speed fight too fast for me to make sense of. 

Sakumo pulled me into the building. “It’s not our fight, Kaori. Let’s go.” 

His arm around my body tightened. We climbed the stairs to the upper floors, then walked through a corridor to a door guarded by a young shinobi with a mask. The young shinobi glanced at us, then nodded and opened the door behind him. 

Nara Shikaen was sitting on the desk of Jounin Commander, while Jiraiya was seated on a cluster of sofas on the side. They were waiting for us, it seemed, as they showed no surprise. Shikaen waved his hand to the sofa while standing up himself, inviting us to sit on the sofas to start our meeting. It was novel for me to have someone on my side, so I let Sakumo lead me to it. The room lightened up for a moment, signaling the activation of the privacy seal.

We exchanged pleasantries and I let Sakumo take over first. Shikaen didn’t look bothered by it, but he alluded to Sakumo's presence. My husband looked calm, but his hand on my back said otherwise. 

“Jiraiya informed me that Kaori-san has struck a deal with Danzo-sama.” Shikaen went straight to the heart of discussion. “For the exchange of protection, you have agreed to be his … advisor?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” I answered curtly. 

“Why do you feel the need to do that? Don’t you think that your husband cannot protect your family enough?” It was a nasty jab at my husband, which made me turn to Sakumo. He didn’t show anything on his face. So I took over. 

“My husband is a very accomplished Jounin with merits. I know he can protect us. But he is also busy serving this Village, as per  _ your _ missions. So I just acquired … additional insurance for my family, because although I am technically a civilian, I am the Hatake Matriarch too, therefore responsible to protect my clan.” 

“And what makes you approach the Council Danzo-sama, instead of the Jounin corps?”

“... because he is our choice for the next Hokage candidate.” 

Shikaen and Jiraiya looked at me with surprised expressions. I grabbed my husband’s hand for strength. He squeezed back. 

“The reason being…?”

“Sandaime-sama has requested retirement, with Danzo-sama and Sannin as his successor candidates. Unfortunately my husband got dragged into this courtesy to Jiraiya-sama--”

Jiraiya spluttered, “Oi! I have redeemed myself and I am sorry, alright!?” 

I ignored him and continued, “..which triggered my husband’ latest missions’ sabotage. Based on what I am aware of, Danzo-sama is the strongest current contender for the position. After my discussion with him, I found that he truly has Konoha’s best interest in heart, however with a ... slightly skewed view of what constituted power. I also ‘foresee’ that he is ruthless enough to try to control from the shadow, shall he fail to ascend the seat. His machinations behind the scene also may potentially prolong the Third Shinobi War.” 

“... So there’ll be a war?” Shikaen stared at me. 

“Yes, Nara-sama.” Sakumo spoke before I could, grabbing my hand tightly. I let him take over. “Even without Kaori’s ‘gift’, the situation between villages is very tense. This will only stew further, and will trigger an explosion soon. The borders have reported an increase in conflicts with Kumo and Iwa, while there is a rise in rebellion by Ame.” 

“I agree with Sakumo. From my visit to Ame, the situation has escalated. I have also secured the target-- just as Kaori asked. But still, Hanzo the Salamander is a growing threat.”

I was happy with how this discussion went. So far, my husband and Jiraiya were a good tag team against Shikaen. I might not need to speak at all!

“...So Kaori-san, what do you know about it?” Shikaen asked instead, as if knowing my mind.

… And my hope was crushed. I almost sighed but my husband turned to me with interest too. 

“Right. Hanzo the Salamander will be the self proclaimed first Kage of Amegakure. I believe he will be one of the major threats in the upcoming war--and with his abilities, he is a tough opponent even for the three Sannins. On that note, have you met Nagato, Konan and Yahiko yet, Jiraiya-san?”

Jiraiya nodded. “Yes, I have. And I have confirmed your information--he has Rinnegan. It’s unnatural.”

I nodded. “It is, Jiraiya-san. He wasn’t born with it. It was planted on him --and because of his Uzumaki-heritage, he has the chakra to keep it.” 

“Who planted the Rinnegan into the boy?” Shikaen asked. 

I smiled. “It will be a story for another day, Nara-sama.”

The Jounin Commander sighed. “Troublesome.” 

I looked at my husband and conveyed my wish to take over this conversation. He sighed and nodded. I continued, “Before talking further, may I … ask for a few terms in return to my information?” 

“... What are your terms?” Shikaen watched me like a hawk. 

Let’s talk business then. “I request the same term with what I asked from Danzo-sama. Firstly, I require protection for my clan, including whom I adopted or lived inside our compound; as well the permission to be frank while sharing my knowledge for your consumption only. Secondly, I need your assistance in convincing Danzo-sama to focus on other sides of the village, not only military; but also the economic and civilian side. And lastly, I request mental health support for all Konoha, especially for the shinobi army.”

Before anyone could cut me off, I added quickly. “Deceive us, or if anything happens to any of my family, I will stop giving you information. Forcing me to give out information will result in me giving you some … incorrect ‘information’. Using my family to get me will result in us leaving this village for good, and you won’t be able to find us. It’s take it or leave it, Nara-sama. Your move.”

I bluffed, of course. But I trusted Sakumo to bring our children to safety when it happened. My husband didn’t like it, of course, and I could sense his anger over my threatening Shikaen. I gripped his arm tightly. 

“...Your husband doesn’t seem to agree with your terms, Kaori-san.” Shikaen smirked. 

I kept my smile and Sakumo quickly calmed down. I waited for them to continue, just to show them my displeasure for Shikaen’s personal attack. It was one thing to insult me to get more information, but it was just unforgivable for him to insinuate my husband was less than supportive. 

“Right. My apologies for inappropriate observation,” he shrugged. “On your terms, I can grant it if you meet our terms as well.” 

“Which are…?” I asked. 

“Firstly, you’d be 100% truthful about your knowledge, or this agreement will be immediately revoked.”

I didn’t like the way he phrased it. “...How can you determine my truthfulness or not? I am not that naive to agree to it--you can just ask me for everything, and then kill me and my family after I lose my usefulness. Or the other way around--what I told you might not happen because you have acted against it, and it will revoke the agreement.” 

“Well, that’s the risk you need to take.” he smirked.

I argued again. “But how are you going to determine my truthfulness? The future knowledge is not so linear-- a simple change may change the whole future.”

“If I may, Commander.” My husband spoke. “This is like arguing between chicken and egg. It all comes down to integrity and trust. I can personally vouch for my wife’s integrity that she will not give misleading information if our protection terms are met, while I demand you to keep your part of the bargain, for the benefit of Konoha.” 

“I can vouch for them too, Shikaen.” Jiraiya shrugged. “I know that her knowledge is massively useful, and we don’t want it to only support the Council, do we?”

Shikaen finally grimaced. “How troublesome. Fine. You’ll be the guarantor, Jiraiya-sama. Kaori-san, you will be called from time to time, and I will also need to inform Hokage-sama about this.” 

“...Acceptable.” I whispered. “As long as Danzo-sama is alright with it.” 

“Good. So, let’s move on to the next term. You will spy on Danzo for us.” Shikaen casually dropped another bomb.

I was… surprised, to be honest. But it was an understandable move. Nara would use everything to their advantage. Sakumo was the one who reacted first. “That is too dangerous for my wife, Commander. She is still starting with Danzo-sama, and she is pregnant. I won’t let her face this risk.” 

_ Oh Sakumo, I love you so much.  _

“... Unless you have a spy cam or a recorder, I don’t think I can help much.” I shrugged. “I don’t know how to spy on someone, Nara-sama. And I am not discreet at all.”

“Aren’t you a shinobi?” Shikaen asked, a bit rough. 

Sakumo was the one who took offense on my behalf. “Kaori has not joined active shinobi forces ever since the mission that took her chakra away. She is a civilian and pregnant, unsuitable for this kind of risk.” 

Shikaen just shrugged. “She’ll only need to pass on Danzo’s decision to us.”

“If I may, Nara-sama.” I started. 

He huffed, “As if you won’t just speak your mind, you troublesome woman.”

I ignored him, “I see that you are approaching this negotiation like a zero-sum bargaining. I want to point out that my second and third terms are for our mutual benefit, as it would improve Konoha as a whole. So the only point you can bargain on is my clan’s protection--which is our rights as Konoha citizens. Thus, this negotiation shouldn’t be this tough--as we actually have the same objective. As I said before, instead of this hard negotiation, why can’t we just work together and save yourself time? I can give you information and advice, which you can act on accordingly. You are also free to confirm my information with your own spies. Win-win solution.”

“You are talking as if your information is worth more than gold. If what you said before is true, that any slight changes can alter the outcomes, that means your information is useless--and you still dare to demand a lot of things?” 

“...If you cannot give me your trust, then I have nothing else to tell. The only way is to give up on this negotiation. You don’t get information, we don’t have your protection and support. Lose-lose.” 

“So you are on Danzo’s side, then?”

“We are on no one’s side but our own.” I bristled. “Before all else, it’s _ my _ family. You understand, do you? Before all else--your wife and Shikaku come first. But before you accuse me of treason, I also know I owe Konoha for my family’s well being, and so, I will do my best to keep Konoha strong enough to protect all of us.” 

My husband pulled me back and that made me realise I have inclined my body forward, ready to stand and leave this man in his own mind games. I hated mind games, which was my downfall every time I had a tougher negotiation. Sakumo seemed to have more patience than I did, and his presence beside me just made me feel even more confident. 

“... In the end, it’s all for Konoha, isn’t it?” Shikaen chuckled humorlessly. “But are we even talking about the same Konoha?”

“Then you should just combine all our vision. Or we can go back to basics, to the wish of the Founders: a village where a child need not to fight.” I replied. “You have a better position to communicate with Danzo-sama and the Council than my Clan does, yet you try to use me to undermine them. In the end, everybody feels they are the most righteous one and nobody will compromise. Different visions caused the worst internal fight, Nara-sama.” 

The room fell into silence. I turned to my husband. He stared back at me, with a small smile. I smiled back, knowing he was by my side, my staunch support. Maybe after this discussion I needed to gather all our essential belongings just in case we need to make a run in the middle of the night.

“Fine.” Shikaen took his pipe to smoke. “Troublesome.” 

“Please refrain yourself from smoking in the presence of a pregnant lady.” Sakumo smiled politely. I saw Shikaen’s imaginary veins bulge on his forehead. 

“Fine! So troublesome,” He huffed and put down his pipe. Jiraiya hid his laugh behind his fake cough. “Well? Any information you can pass to us now?” 

I glanced at my husband, and when he nodded, I spoke out. “Jiraiya-san, my advice would be to train the three Ame kids properly and keep them from Hanzo. It… it might be possible that Hanzo will see them as a threat to his throne, especially with the potential they have, and thus try to kill them. Also, we might want to propose alliances with the Land of Iron, Nara-sama. Mifune-sama will be a beneficial partner to have in this war.” 

Jiraiya nodded solemnly, while Shikaen watched me like a hawk. 

“Also… in regards to the ROOT’s agents. Most of them are orphans that were unfairly recruited for ROOTs. There is this seal that keep them from speaking anything about ROOTs or Danzo-sama, located in their tongue and linked to their brain stem, like a suicide seal. If it’s alright with you, maybe, can you find some reverse seal for that, Jiraiya-san? They are just lonely kids with so much potential. I … I want to help them.” 

Sakumo’s laugh made me blink. Apparently Jiraiya and Shikaen were surprised with my husband’s reaction too. He caught himself and smiled. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he signed,  _ ‘later’.  _ I let it go and turned to the other men in the room.  My messages were apparently enough for them at the moment, as they let us go afterward. 

I secretly calculated that Shikaen called me "troublesome" four times during all the discussion. A new record.

* * *

Kakashi was already home when we came back with Tenzou in tow. 

“Where did you go, Kaa-chan, Tou-chan?” he asked, worry filled his questions. 

“Oh, just a discussion with someone.” I smiled and patted his head. “Have you washed your hands and feet? I am sorry I have yet to cook, so give me fifteen minutes, please?”

Sakumo kissed my forehead and brought Tenzou in his arms towards the bathroom, following Kakashi. I felt warmth inside my chest, knowing that we were fine now. I touched my stomach and wished everything would be fine. 

I washed my hands before cutting some vegetables and defreezed the fish balls I bought from the fishmongers. I planned to make fishball and tofu soup with rice and seaweed salad. While cooking, I remembered Sakumo telling me why he was laughing. Apparently ROOTs would just enable my hobby of ‘adopting people who don’t run fast enough’. It was … kinda right when I thought about it. I have adopted Orochimaru, Tenzou, Minato and Kushina, right?

Oh well. 

After lunch, I let my husband train my pups, while I went to clean the house. I was grateful for Sakumo’s initiative to get the boys to train, so I had some time to think. The act of cleaning helped to soothe my anxiety away. Also, it gave me the opportunity to prepare the necessities, just in case. Maybe I could ask Sakumo to get us some Jounin backpack of some sort, because they seemed sturdy enough. If we really needed to run, where should we go? Maybe the Land of Iron? Where no shinobi would bother us since it was a samurai country. Sakumo was great at kenjutsu as well, so he could probably adapt there. 

I turned and my heart jumped to my mouth. 

Minato was standing right behind me, looking sheepish. 

“Kaori-san,” he smiled. “I am sorry to surprise you.” 

My stomach hurt a bit, but I calmed down quickly. “Minato-kun. Ah, do you need anything?” 

“... Actually I want to ask for your time, for a bit. Just you.”

“... Why?” 

He tilted his head. “I want to ask about this.” and pulled out my Narutoverse script from his mantle. The familiar, hastily written script I hid under the bed. 

“You took it!” I called out. “When…?” 

“My apology. I took it when you were busy with the kids and worrying about Sakumo-san.” He smiled. Somehow his smile felt different. It was the same smile he usually projected, yet I felt alarmed now. 

“Alright. What do you want to ask, first?” 

“Shall we move to a more discreet location?” 

“We can talk here, Minato-kun. Otherwise I need to call Sakumo to come with me.” 

We ended up sitting underneath the kotatsu, two cups of lukewarm tea between us. I watched him closely. He was a pretty boy, with golden hair and blue, soulful eyes. With that kind of face and mannerism, no wonder that everyone trusted him. He was a genius too, that was why he would become the Fourth Hokage (if Danzo didn’t anyway). 

Now I just felt tricked by this young man. 

Namikaze Minato was a clanless orphan who became the strongest shinobi in Konoha, became a Hokage, even. Of course he must have some cunning in him too. He might not yet be the Yellow Flash as yet, but he was dangerous indeed. He might not have armies like Danzo or Shikaen, however I felt like he could turn this world upside down if he wanted. 

… Was his confession before was a ruse to get closer to me? To spy on us?

“Did you write this?” he bluntly opened the conversation. 

I tilted my head. “Why does it matter?” 

He kept his smile. “Is this story… based on the future?”

I hummed. “It is based on a certain future, but it is just one out of millions of possibilities, Minato-kun.” 

“Are your stories like this? I have bought your other works--including the ones you wrote under different pen names, Kaori-san. It was hard to track which ones, as you have lots, yet now that I’ve read them all, I see a thread.” 

“And what is that?” I asked. 

He chuckled. “Why can I never get a straight answer from you?” 

I sighed into my tea. I suddenly felt very, very tired. Sakumo, Shikaen and Minato, all in one day, asking about the same thing. I was tired of this game. All I wanted was to protect my family. I admitted I had many rash actions that lead to this moment, but I couldn’t regret it. Because now my husband wouldn’t commit suicide and Kakashi wouldn’t be alone. Orochimaru hopefully wouldn’t be spiralling down into the crazy science hole and Little Tenzou wouldn’t be ROOT. 

“Why indeed.” I smiled at him. “... I need to ask you something, though. Do you really want to join our family, or is it just a ruse to get to me?” 

His smile dropped. It was all the confirmation I needed. Suddenly I felt tired, from all these mind games.  _ Damn Ninjas and their deceits and paranoia. _

“I don’t mind,  _ Namikaze-san _ . I understand that you are a shinobi first and foremost. I believe you are a good kid. But maybe you are a better shinobi instead.” I slowly rose from my seat. “Don’t worry, I have struck a deal with Jiraiya-san about all this, so you don’t need to spy on us anymore, Namikaze-san. May I have my script back, then?” 

He looked … sad. However, I was too tired to care. “... I am sorry. I cannot give you back this script.” 

“Oh. Alright. It’s my fault for trusting blindly. I just need to learn that I cannot trust too easily. I am sorry for arrogantly trying to mother you.” 

“You were not…!” he refuted. “... Are you disappointed in me?”

I didn’t answer him. Instead I stuck out my arm towards him. “Please let me, for the last time?” 

He let me by not moving a single inch. I sighed and patted his hair for the last time. They were soft. He was so young, yet he was already so manipulative. Maybe the real Kaori was like that as well, an orphan who was forced to kill to live. They were kids that were forced to grow up too fast. 

“You are a good man, Namikaze-san. It’s so sad how the shinobi system forced all of you to be this way for your missions. I thank you for protecting me and my family all along. Ah, please also inform me when you want to leave the dorm room, so I can clean it up. Just leave the key in the box.” 

Minato looked like he wanted to speak out, but when he saw my tired smile, he nodded. 

“Have you shared this script to anyone else?” I asked. 

“Would you want me to?” he smiled. I chuckled weakly. He used my usual vague answer to reply to my question. Cheeky. 

“... Just be careful, Namikaze-san.” I sighed. “This may be the future, but it may be not, depending whom you told and how you act on it. Just prepare for the best. I hope you and Kushina-chan have a happy family.” 

He blushed. “So… this  _ ‘Naruto’ _ is really my son?”

“Hmmm… He might be. He might not be. It’s just one possibility in a million of possible futures. To be honest, I don’t know anymore. I have changed a lot of things based on my… ‘knowledge’ of this world, and I don’t know where it’ll bring us. I just want my family to be safe, that’s all… you included.”

“... Thank you for your hospitality, Hatake-san.” Minato’s voice was gentle. “I am really sorry for deceiving you.” 

Deciding that nothing else was there to talk about, I walked slowly towards the kettle, pouring the lukewarm water onto my cup. I just wanted to sleep now. Today was just too eventful. I was glad that Sakumo accepted me. I was relieved that Shikaen chose to let us stay alive. But Minato’s deception just left a bad taste in my mind. Again, I was reminded how my arrogance for knowing things has betrayed me. Also, how my upbringing as a civilian in another world has skewed my self-preservation sense. I started to see how my ‘before world’  _ values _ had no place in this shinobi world. 

Above all, I just felt tired. 

_ … I wanted to be back in my apartment, with my laptop, internet and vacuum cleaner.  _

Damn, I was thinking of running away again. Bad, bad thinking. One betrayal and you suddenly gave up?  _ You were not that weak, woman. _

“Kaa-chan?” Kakashi’s voice called me. I turned to see my pup running into the house. “Want snack!!!”

I chuckled. Yeah. My pups were precious. It was all for them. And a simple glance has told me Minato was gone from the kotatsu. My chest stung a bit. “...Over here in the kitchen, Kakashi!” 

My oldest pup (no more Minato means Kakashi was the oldest boy now) came and slipped beside me. “What are you doing, Kaa-chan?”

“I am preparing your snacks. How about some apples?” 

“Uhn.” My son nodded. 

“How was your practice?” 

“It’s good. Tou-chan is teaching Tenzou katas now.”

He took the plate of sliced apples from my hand and went towards the table to sit down. I parked myself beside him, engaging my pup with simple, daily questions to distract myself from Minato’s shocking (and disappointing) revelation. 

I hugged my pup and hid my face on Kakashi’s soft hair. 

“Kaa-chan?” he asked, almost ready to wiggle out from my hug. It felt bittersweet. I still remembered he would hug me for hours one year ago. Now, he had grown and being hugged by me was embarrassing. He only tolerated me because no one else could see us now. 

“Please let Kaa-chan hug you for a moment?” I whispered. “I love you, Kakashi. Kaa-chan love you very, very much.” 

Even though I told him often, it still felt not enough. I didn’t want my baby to think otherwise. Two small arms hugged me back awkwardly. 

“I love you too, Kaa-chan.” 

The moment broke when my husband came in with little Tenzou paddling in front of him, looking tired but very happy. I greeted them with the offer of sliced apples and cold carrot juice. They helped me clean up further and the rest of the day passed as normal as it could be. 

* * *

“Nee, Sakumo... Am I a bad mother?” I asked when we were alone on our bed. 

“No.” Sakumo quickly answered me. “Where does that come from?” he put down the book he was reading and turned to me. I stared at his eyes closely. 

“... Nothing.” I sighed and decided that telling Sakumo about Minato wasn’t worth it. “Just feeling sad. Minato told me he is going back to his apartment and leaving our dorm. Just feeling lonely, I guess.” 

Sakumo kissed my head. “He will be fine, he is a good kid.” 

“He is, isn’t he?” I smiled. “I don’t want Kakashi to leave when he becomes chuunin. Tenzou too. I don’t want them to leave, Sakumo.” 

My husband chuckled, “It’s still a long time to go, Kaori.” 

“But Kakashi is going to be a chuunin soon.” I pouted and kept the conversation away from Minato. “And then it will be too cool for him to hug me. And Tenzou will follow Kakashi.”

“You’ll have our next baby, Kaori.” Sakumo didn’t stop smiling at me. 

I unconsciously touched my small, barely there, baby bump. “But I cannot keep producing babies every year, can I?”

“With the rate you adopt everyone, I think it won’t be a problem.” 

I stopped ranting. “... Do you think it’s bad? I mean, I keep trying to … adopt them into our family. Maybe they don’t want it?”

Sakumo shrugged. “That is their choice to make. But you give them the choice to have a family. I will support your choice either way.” 

The ease of him answering my worry endeared him to me, very much. “You always know what to say, huh, dear Hubby of mine?” 

Sakumo just grinned like he had won the lottery. Adorable. He looked happy and relaxed, very handsome. I touched his nose. “I shall play with you tonight.” 

“Oh?” he asked in interest. “What would you do?” 

“Uhm… I will tell you three facts that will surprise you very, very much.” 

“Woah, that’s heavy.” he snorted, but he shrugged. “I am all ears, then.”

I grinned. “If you are surprised, I win. Firstly, do you know that Kinoe has Mokuton?” 

“What.” he looked very, very surprised. “Is he a Senju?” 

“Oh, no. He was an orphan. Oro-san infused Shodaime’s DNA into him to heal my poor baby. And you lose, my husband.” 

“Damn, Kaori. I still have so many questions about that. Well, what is my punishment then?” 

I grinned. “You can ask Oro-san later about it. But now, you must give me a kiss for every surprise. A cheek kiss, mind you. I don’t have the energy to tire you tonight.” 

He chuckled and pecked me on my cheek. I blushed happily and hugged him. 

“Alright. Hit me with the next fact?” he closed his arms around me. 

“Hmmm… Uchiha Madara couldn’t pee if someone was watching him?” 

Sakumo raised an eyebrow at me. “Really?” he asked in disbelief. I grinned and nodded. 

“Well, consider me surprised, then.” he smiled and gave a peck on my other cheek. I snuggled deeper into his embrace. 

“What’s the third, then?” 

“... Uchiha Madara is still alive.”

He stiffened. I stole a quick kiss on his cheek. “Good night.” 

“Wait! You cannot just leave me hanging with that kind of information!” Sakumo whined. I shrugged and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep, keeping my giggle low. 

My husband huffed. “Fine. But we need to talk about this again, soon. Now I understand the reason behind Shikaku’s grumpiness towards you.” 

I grinned and fell asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep this fluffy. It will get messy just by a bit, and then it's fully fluffy again. I had my first writer's block for this story. next update maybe slow. and maybe time jump the next chapter. 
> 
> Sakumo is a doting husband. I cite the law of fanfiction. Fight me. 
> 
> Still unemployed. *le sigh*. the world economy is getting worse. 
> 
> Please cheer me up? Thank you!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wild Zetsu appears! 
> 
> Obito and Shisui joined Hatake. formally.

In the end, the last person I have yet to be truthful to was Orochimaru. 

I finally found the chance to talk to him the day after he returned from his mission. After Kakashi went for the Academy and left the four of us on the dining table--I snacking on some pink rainbow marshmallow, while Sakumo ate his breakfast and Orochimaru fed Kinoe his morning porridge. When I approached him for a talk, he just tilted his head and let Sakumo take Kinoe for a play outside the house. 

“I… I owe you an explanation, Orochimaru-san.” I started, fiddling with my teacup. “I didn’t mean to postpone till this late.” 

Orochimaru nodded and let me talk. So I told them about my “supposed” knowledge, including Sakumo’s mission information and Kinoe’s Mokuton. However, unlike the reaction I got from all other receivers of my information, he didn’t question me at all, just watching me with great interest in silence. 

“... You don’t look surprised at all.” I noted softly. 

He shrugged, “I did have some suspicions myself. I am used to “oracle” business with Jiraiya and his toads, and I also know that clairvoyants are there, albeit rare, but it was a notable Kekkei Genkai. I observe how you always seem to know things you shouldn’t be able to, and you refrain yourself from saying anything about it. I actually knew you were of Kurama Clan descent, Kaori-san. I did operate on you after all. It was one of the reasons I did it. I have some… ‘hypothesis’ about you, Kaori-san.”

“Hypothesis?” I was intrigued “About me?”

“I witnessed your genjutsu ability. When you returned from your last ever mission, you were in a coma. But no one, bare Tsunade, could treat you. Everytime they came near, they were caught in a strong genjutsu. As if your body was keeping people away to avoid hurt. Tsunade managed to subdue you, but she wasn’t the medical professional you knew now. She was just a young, trained Senju Chuunin. I assisted her that one time, so I kind of guessed which clan you were from.”

I nodded. He sipped his tea before continuing. 

“It didn’t cross my mind again until I returned to Konoha last year. I saw you in another coma, and I thought… why not. I used an experimental jutsu to try and wake you up.” 

Oh, that clarified a lot of things. “Was it… Edo Tensei?” I asked him. 

I noted that the only sign of his surprise was a small body twitch. Orochimaru was a great shinobi, indeed. “You know that jutsu?”

I smiled and poured another batch of tea for both of us. “I just know enough of the objective and implication, but not the procedure. But it brings me here, so I really owe you a thank you, Orochimaru-san.”

“I am … not as good as you think.” He hissed and looked away. “You put me on the pedestal since we first met. I operated on you, but it was more to my own curiosity rather than helping you. Your chakra pathway was broken beyond repair, while the genjutsu kept your body from being treated. I knew you possessed the potential to probably survive the experimental Edo Tensei. That was why I operated on you.”

I inhaled and took my time to process it. So Kaori was really from the Kurama Clan. Was that what she alluded in her diary entries? And regardless of Orochimaru’s less than noble reason to operate on Kaori and call me here, I didn’t find it matter too much. I chased Orochimaru with selfish reasons too, afterall, to prevent him from hurting Kakashi in the future. 

“And I still don’t think it matters.” I smiled at him, clasping his hand on the table. His hand was bigger than mine, yet quite as soft and definitely paler. “In the end, you saved me. You saved my husband and my son. You share Tenzou with me. You accept me and join our family. I am glad that you are here, Orochimaru-san. I hope you feel the same too.” 

He huffed with a small smile, hiding behind his beautiful black fringe. 

“Thank you for having us too, Kaori-san.” 

I chuckled. “Alright. I am glad we have this discussion, Oro-san. Now, in regards to Kinoe’s mokuton, I think it’s probably best if you can help with the training. The little tyke is sprouting more now than ever. Sakumo knows and Kakashi helped a bit, but I don’t think it’s quite enough. And I must inform you, Kinoe has shown his Mokuton to a ROOT personnel before.” 

“What happened?” Orochimaru asked, his face turned serious. 

“It was my fault. Kinoe was trying to protect us from our chasers. Last time, when Sakumo went on the bad mission--I panicked and went to the Hokage tower. A ROOT member intercepted me, ready to pick me out of the way. Kinoe helped us by constricting the shinobi with his mokuton. I am sure whether … whether Danzo-sama knew, but he might be guessing.” 

Orochimaru sighed. “I see.” 

“I am sorry, Oro-san.” I bowed. “I will try to amend my mistake. I am now an appointed ‘advisor’ to Danzo-sama, so I will keep this as much as I can. So far he has yet to question me on my babies, so I guessed it is still fine.” 

“Danzo-sama? Did he contact you?”

“Yes he did, actually. I guessed he got my blood and DNA test from the Hospital. He approached me before, asking me to donate my DNA to make Kurama Clan clones. Now he wanted me to be his advisor.” 

“I never told him about your Clan, Kaori-san, trust me.”

“I trust you, Oro-san.” He looked a tiny bit relieved, so I squeezed his hand gently. “But he asked me to ask you, Oro-san. He wanted you to clone me, apparently.” 

Orochimaru paled. 

I shook my head. “I don’t want to be cloned. I don’t want any artificial children or clones. I don’t want to harvest my DNA just to make child soldiers. … Will you help me? Preventing that from happening?” 

He nodded slowly. “Danzo-sama approached me, as you may know. He offered me the best secret lab to replicate Kekkei Genkais and Doujutsu. He wanted all of them, and he promised I could do some experimentations. I … am the mad scientist of Konoha, Kaori-san. My experimentations were gruesome but it brought a lot of new knowledge for Konoha. That was why the village feared and despised me. When the Elder approached me that last time, I was ready to surrender, as long as I could keep Kinoe a secret. Jiraiya and Tsunade left, so I have no one to ask for Kinoe. But you came and chased Danzo-sama away. So, I owe you that. And I will honor your wish. I will never clone you, no matter how Danzo-sama forces me.” 

I deeply exhale, before thanking him with all my sincerity. “Thank you, Oro-san. Can I… Can I hug you?”

He chuckled and we stood up from our seat. He opened his arms, so I just went into the embrace. His scent was still the same since that first time I hugged him. He was thin but strong, the embodiment of lethal beauty. I knew I truly loved him like a family. His body was less warm than mine, but it was comfortable for us. 

“Thank you. You are a blessing for us, Oro-san. Thank you for being my family.” 

He didn’t answer, just hugging me tighter. 

* * *

Two months passed, and slowly everything turned into some weird routine. 

Sakumo still has some missions, but they were short and less dangerous. Shikaen mostly tasked him to train the new Jounins and ANBU, keeping my husband busy and productive inside the Village. I was glad because he was at home most nights. Kakashi also called upon his second ninken, Bull. They were a cute bunch and loved minced meat very much. I spent half an hour playing with Pakkun’s soft paws, while teaching Kinoe how to gently handle an animal. Kakashi pouted when I called his ninken cute until Sakumo ensured our pup that they would grow as Kakashi grew. They would be fierce, Sakumo added to my son’s delight. 

Orochimaru joined us whenever he was in the village, just like before. I noticed that he became warmer to us, adding into our nightly family discussion, also teaching Kakashi and Kinoe together on experiments and animal summons. He cooked too, and some of his cooking was even better than mine, much to Sakumo’s refusal to admit. Sometimes, Sakumo and Orochimaru argued until they had simple brawls-- our Dojo witnessed an increasing amount of kenjutsu fights. Kakashi and Kinoe watched in awe (although my oldest son would never admit it. He wanted to look cool in front of the Great oro-san). However, they always keep it just kenjutsu, with no KI or ninjutsu, especially if I was near. Probably to keep me from collapsing again (it was such an embarrassing panic attack episode). 

I was actually proud of myself for Kakashi. He was excelling in every subject in the Academy, even beating the older students. He bumped up the class almost every month, and finally joined the sixth year class already. Even his teachers asked me to allow Kakashi to graduate soon. I deferred to my husband for that and we decided we would ask Kakashi. My pup decided that he wanted to stay until the end of term. He wanted to become a chunin then, he said, with his long awaited ‘Kakashi-like’ Jounin sensei. 

(When he mentioned his ‘future’ Jounin sensei, I couldn’t help but frown. Namikaze Minato might still be my pup’s sensei. I knew he would be a great sensei, but his deception was something that still hurt me sometimes. It was the blatant reminder of my arrogance and blind trust. So I refrained from commenting anything about his potential teacher and just supported Kakashi on his choice.) 

I still requested Kakashi to bring his friends home. He mostly brought Obito, Gai and Asuma home, sometimes with Genma or Raidou. Genma and Raidou were older than the others, as they were Kakashi’s classmates in the sixth year class. (I really wanted to keep Obito and Gai, but I refrained myself from intervening anything because I wasn’t sure my effort would be appreciated, just like Minato’s case). Kakashi was turning into this bratty kid, with blunt and sometimes impolite snark, but he played along with his friends and clearly cared for them. His social skill was better than Kakashi in the anime, for sure, and I patted myself on the back for that. 

Even though he didn’t depend on me as often as he used to, he still suddenly glomped my (increasingly rounder) abdomen for a moment, asking for a pat or kiss, before running again to play with his friends or to train with his father or Oro-san. 

I savoured those ‘spoiled Kakashi’ moments tremendously. My pup was the cutest! 

Kinoe has stopped saying ‘ _ superior sperm _ ’ inappropriately (thank Kami!) but has started to sprout from his head now. He has this cute little bud with two small green leaves on top of his head. I squee-ed everytime he moved his head, because he looked just like the little cute bobble-head car dashboard doll. Orochimaru brought back a lot of scrolls from Senju libraries (I didn’t ask how he got it) and taught my little sprout how to control his power. 

I couldn’t carry Kinoe much now, since my stomach has become bigger. My husband and Orochimaru forbid me from carrying Kinoe, citing he was too heavy. But I stole moments when there was no one watching me, to pull him into a tight clutch. Kinoe’s squeal and blushing cheeks were super adorable. 

My stomach has grown. My new baby (already called ‘Tamago’ by their father and older brother) grew well enough, as per the hospital check up result. A bit smaller in size, but so far was on track. I still went to Yui-sensei, even though she let my blood sample result be stolen by Danzo. She apologised to me for it and she swore to keep my future health documentation private as it should be. 

She told us that Tamago-chan was still developing, and most probably developed a chakra system soon. This might interfere with my body, because I shouldn’t have chakra within me -- my body was even weaker than a civilian with underdeveloped chakra pathway. The best scenario would be to take the baby out caesarian way before the seventh or eight months, but the baby would be very premature. On the other hand, if I kept my baby up till nine months, I was in danger of chakra poisoning, especially if Tamago chan has a strong chakra pathway like Kakashi. 

Sakumo paled with panic when we heard this, his arm tightened around me. We were lucky that we didn’t bring our older children with us. Orochimaru, who accompanied us as well, looked pensive. Yui Sensei apologised again and asked to keep my calm, because I needed to keep myself relatively stress-free (yeah, right. As if Danzo and Shikaen would let me relax). I decided to put my head in the sand and hope for the best like usual. 

* * *

Thursday discussion with Danzo was another matter -- he was a hardheaded, strong will old man. But I slowly feel endeared to him. He was just like the epitome of an old, prideful Japanese man -- the need to protect and be the one who was in control consumed his mind. Our first session ended up in a verbal argument so strong I had a massive headache when I returned home (Sakumo ended up carrying me home). The conversation went like this: 

_ “You need a partner, Danzo-sama. Someone to remind you of other factors and points of view. Even a hokage needs council.” _

_ “I have my current council.”  _

_ “You need someone different in your council. The world is always changing.” I surprised myself by being this petulant--I sounded like I whined. So I quickly saved myself. “You need someone to argue from the other side. Because when you only see from one, you are blind from mistakes and bias. You have forgotten what essential Konoha is. Are you still doing this for Konoha? Or is it just for your own pride?” _

_ He turned sour and smashed his cup of tea onto the table. I twitched back in reflex. “I may employ you as an advisor, but I won’t tolerate accusation or insolence behaviour, Child. This is your only warning.” _

_ I nodded and apologised. We continued our discussion with me trying to keep it as safe as I could. Yet as the time passed, I became too heated again. I pointed out that his sensei (Nidaime)’s approach of “the end justify the means” was the same principle as Uchiha Madara’s. This time he just sighed, though.  _

_ “You are too naive, Child. Your ideas are… too radical to comprehend.”  _

_ “But that’s why I am here, Danzo sama. Because I am everything but common Ninja sense.” I cheekily answered.  _

_ He looked stunned, before actually smiling. We went back to argue about what constituted strength for Konoha-- until he suddenly stopped us, citing I needed to be back because my husband was outside, ready to fetch me.  _

_ My husband actually came half an hour before that, and was told to wait in another room. I didn’t know because I couldn’t sense chakra. I have the suspicion Danzo actually told me to go back because I look tired.  _

He slowly opened up to me. I brought him some sweets everytime I came (because it was my cravings, and also I didn’t trust him not to poison my tea). He opened the sweet everytime we had our discussion, so we shared the whole box. I slowly became more and more daring--I even shouted at him one time -- but slowly I garnered his trust. And dare I say, despite knowing how bad Danzo would be, this man was still salvageable. 

This Danzo has yet turned into the point of no return--and I could see why people follow him in his current state. He was a true shinobi, born and bred, hard headed yet still soft hearted. His principles were in the right kind, although his hard-headedness usually skewed the implementation. He was truly a conservative, so we often clashed because of my too liberal view. Yet he was now learning to listen to me--and I to him--and I found some kind of connection with him. I have some suspicion he has started to indulge me these days. 

What turned him into the cruel, ruthless demon he would be in the future? 

I had my answer when I had my fifth meeting with him.

I walked through the familiar corridor of the Japanese Home to our usual discussion room, when the room’s door was opened and Danzo came out with a man. I blinked and bowed, moving aside to let them pass. 

When Danzo’s guest passed by me, my whole body shivered. I looked up to see two yellow eyes glanced at me before walking out. I was frozen for a moment, until a hand patted me on my shoulder and I almost jumped. Danzo stared at me before asking me to take a seat. 

I didn’t know why, but that man was dangerous. And his body was pale, like he wasn’t humane. The aura of hollowness was horrifying. I couldn’t see his face, just the yellow eyes staring at me with strange intensity.

I bet my ass that man was Zetsu. Or being possessed by Black Zetsu. 

Now I could guess why Danzo became a monster. 

Immediately I tried to ask Danzo who the man was and why he was there. Danzo told me it wasn’t my business, so I changed my approach and asked him to listen about the story of Kaguya, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi to enslave everyone and took back the chakra. All with the help of Zetsu, who also manipulated everyone to fuel the unending feud between the Senjus and Uchihas. I explained Zetsu in reference to the feeling I had when he passed by me in the corridor. 

Danzo must have understood my reference. He didn’t believe me at first, so I just stared at Danzo’s eyes in earnest and said I just want the best for him, and I trusted him as my Hokage. I would support him with all my glorified ‘clairvoyant’ knowledge, and this was one of them. 

He didn’t give me any reaction, but he looked very pensive when I left. 

* * *

Shikaen called me often as well, under the disguise of forging a good interclan relationship. 

He usually called my husband in pretence, to visit him in Nara Main House for a ‘discussion’ and requested me to come along with my husband. The first time we went there (the Nara deers looked adorable), I was introduced to his wife, a smart, stubborn and kind lady named Taeko. She was from one of the small Nara branches, but she was a born and bred Nara. I found a camaraderie in her, especially since the first thing she said to me was to apologise for her husband’s  _ troublesome  _ attitude. She ended up joining our meeting, because it was improper for me to be the only lady in the room. 

(I kept track of my “troublesome” count record. My highest count was eight “troublesome” within a meeting.)

Aside from discussing the possibility of Third Shinobi Wars and its outcome, my husband also asked me about Uchiha Madara in front of Shikaen so I couldn’t dodge the question (Shikaen looked very alert when he heard it and immediately zero-ed his focus on me). Thus I shared the information about Madara and the Cave of Doom (which I don’t know exactly where) with Gedo Mazo and Bijuu. I explained about Kaguya and Zetsu as well. 

When I told them about her being the moon, Shikaen barked with an unbelieving laugh. I was kind of offended, but his wife smacked Shikaen on the shoulder. She actually pulled my novels and picture books, informing Shikaen about the childhood stories to support my story. I blushed with embarrassment to see my book being read out loud by Taeko. Shikaen turned puce with the information, while my husband hid his frown. 

Shikaen then realised that one of the books Taeko referred to was my Bijuu book. He turned to me with suspicion. He asked me whether I wrote any of the books his wife mentioned. I blushed and confessed I wrote all of them. 

His “troublesome” facepalm was epic. My husband sighed heavily and warned me again. Next time, he said, I should show him my script before I publish any of them. I meekly agreed to it. I also informed Shikaen about Black Zetsu and his influence over Danzo. Sakumo and Shikaen both looked alarmed, but they told me to let them take care of it.

Usually my husband continued the meeting with Shikaen, while Taeko pulled me away from the room and asked me for a tea in the dining room instead. We shared some tea and sweets I brought as omiyage, gossiping about our children and my baby. She also asked me to sign her books, because my Founder-romance novels were her favourite. She seemed to like Mada-Tobi, just like me (which made me happy to find a fellow like-minded). I was introduced to young Shikaku too, when he came to ask his mother for food or laundry. 

Surprisingly, Taeko was a very resourceful Clan Matriarch, unlike her stingy husband. She recommended some Akamichi civilians who were good housekeepers to hire for my boarding house. She also helped me with marketing strategy, as she knew Konoha society better than I did. She also roped me into a promise to meet the other Ino-Shika-Cho ladies. My boarding house slowly became well-known within the Clans with her help. I was very indebted to her for that, yet she told me she owed it to me because I ruffled Shikaen’s feathers so bad, which amused her very, very much. 

(Sometimes we ended up defending each other’s husbands -- she congratulated me for bagging the handsome Sakumo Hatake, while I praised her to attract the clever Nara Shikaen. It became silly comparisons about our husband’s physique and bedroom habits. I always ended up very red from mortification when Sakumo fetched me after his discussion with Shikaen was finished. My husband thought I had pregnancy flushes, but I was just a bit aroused. I ended up asking for a quickie everytime).

* * *

In the middle of my fifth month, Kakashi went back home, hand holding Obito’s shaking one. 

It was a bit earlier than usual. Kakashi looked at me with his eyes, begging me to fix his friend. The poor kid looked like a mess, like he wanted to cry but he couldn’t. Because Uchiha men were not weak, so they shouldn’t cry. 

“What happened?” I quickly asked, welcoming them. “What happened, pup?”

“Obito’s Grandma passed away today.” Kakashi answered. “They sent someone to tell him at school. I bring him here because he has no one at home.” 

“Oh dear,” I nodded and patted my pup’s hair, “Good job, Kakashi. Come, Obito-kun.” 

The small Uchiha boy looked at me like he was lost and didn’t know what to do. His eyes were glassy, but he has yet to cry. I kept my smile and gently cleaned Obito’s hand and face with Kakashi’s help, before seating them on the sofa. I brought the hot chocolate despite the warm weather and some of the fluffiest blankets I have in the house. 

I gently covered Obito with the fluffy blanket. He let me pull him closer to me, so that he was seated halfway on my lap. His breathing was laboured, but he still didn’t cry. 

“Obito-kun.” I started. “Do you want to share with me?”

He slowly shook his head, still refusing to look up. I respected his choice and signed to Kakashi to help keep Kinoe away from us while I tend to Obito. My pup nodded and left us. 

“Please let me?” I gently asked and slowly pulled him into my embrace. His little body shook even more. I kissed the boy’s hair, patting the unruly hair while shushing him as if he was my baby. “... It will be alright, Obito-kun. You have us.” 

He gripped my shirt tightly and started to sob. His shoulder shook and his sobs were pitched as if he couldn’t breathe. My shirt felt wet. My eyes became wet as well. Such a small body, shaking to keep his grief inside him. 

“Sssh, darling. She is in a better place now.” 

“...She… was… I… orphan.” Obito sobbed inaudibly. “...alone.”

“Oh darling. No. never. You won’t be alone. You have us.”

He continued sobbing, while I continued whispering the assurance that we wouldn’t let him be alone. I spent the whole hour hugging him, letting him cry on my chest. I was reminded of the time I lost my parents, making me sad and afraid and lonely. I missed them. Obito was an orphan, but his grandmother was his sole guardian and parental figure. It was never fun losing one’s parental figure to death. 

Obito cried himself to sleep. We let him sleep on the sofa, while Kakashi kept Kinoe’s volume to the minimum. I prepared our dinner, trying to aim for the comfort food that I knew of: chicken tofu soup and miso-grilled salmon flakes with rice. Sakumo came back from work just a few minutes before Obito woke up. He saw the boy, then turned to me and Kakashi. Kakashi became protective of Obito and signed to his father to keep quiet. Sakumo raised his eyebrows at me. 

“Obito’s grandmother died today.” I whispered as I pecked my husband’s cheek with a welcome kiss. “Can we let him stay for now?” 

Sakumo quickly nodded and we started our dinner. Sakumo sat beside Kakashi, with Kinoe on his lap. Meanwhile I tried coaxing Obito to eat his food. The boy looked solemn with swollen eyes, but he obediently spooned the soup and took a few spoonfuls. After I deemed he was at least filled, I gave him a quick sponge warm bath before tucking him in Kakashi's bed. I read to him until he closed his eyes and kissed him goodnight before I left. 

Kakashi ended up sleeping in Kinoe’s room, voluntarily sleeping on the futon we rolled out for him. He refused to sleep in our room, while Kinoe was very happy because he got to sleep with his brother. My pup refused to let me go when I tucked them in, so I sat on his makeshift futon. 

“Kaa-chan,” He whispered, “What happens when people die?”

I realised I needed to assure my kids that death was natural. I couldn’t promise I would be there for him always because no one knew what the future would bring. “I believe they’ll go to a better place, Kakashi. But they will still watch over us, especially because they love us.” 

“Even the enemy?” 

“I believe that when everyone dies, we all go to a better place, where we will continue to watch our loved ones. Just like us, everyone has their loved ones. Konoha’s enemies are human as well. They have their family and friends too. ”

“... Why do people die, Kaa-chan?”

“A lot of reasons, pup. Sickness. War. Old age.” I whispered while patting his hair. “Everybody is different. What starts must end. But someone, somewhere will feel sad when they die.” 

“Why sad?”

“Because we cannot speak or see or touch each other anymore. Nevertheless, our loved ones are always watching us from the better place.” 

“If they are watching, why can’t they just return to us?” 

“Their time has passed, love. When the time comes, our life will end and we will leave this world. But we will always stay inside our loved ones’ memories.” 

“Everybody will die? Me too?”

“..Yes, pup. But I want you to have a long, fulfilled life before it happens to you.”

“... Kaa-chan too?”

I smiled sadly at his small, fearful question. 

“Yes.” 

“Tou-chan too?”

“Yes, pup.”

“Kaa-chan….never leave me,  _ please _ ?” 

I kissed kakashi’s forehead and hugged him. My pup gripped my pyjama top tightly and hid his face on my chest. His small shoulders started to shake. I kissed my pup’s hair. 

“Kaa-chan… leave?” suddenly Kinoe asked. I was surprised, because I thought my sapling had already fallen asleep. His huge eyes watching us hugging. “Where?”

I tried to touch him, but Kakashi wouldn’t let me move. Kinoe’s eyes went wide, and he started to cry. It was the first time Kinoe actually cried and it shook me. He crawled from his bed clumsily and ran towards us. His little hands grabbed my tops and I pulled him inside my arms too. 

“Shhh, Shhh… Kaa-chan is not going anywhere. It’s alright.” 

Both boys continued to bury themselves on my chest. Kinoe stopped crying, but he sniffled and grabbed my chest. “Don’t leave.” he snuffled. “Kaa-chan don’t go.” 

I didn’t know what to do except keeping them both in my arms until they were satisfied. I regretted not handling this better. Both my boys were crying and anything I said didn’t stop their cry. When Sakumo checked on us, his lips turned to a frown when he saw our boys in my arms. He took a seat beside me, waiting in silence. After kissing them both again and again, assuring I would not leave, Kinoe started to yawn and fell asleep. My husband took him from my arm, and tucked him into his bed. 

Meanwhile, Kakashi still refused to let me go. Sakumo patted our pup’s hair which seemed to make Kakashi cling tighter. I stared at Sakumo helplessly. But finally Kakashi fell asleep, so I gently removed his hands from my top, then tucked him into his futon. When I looked up, my husband was staring at me somberly. He helped me stand up, then gathered me into his arms.

Sakumo and I hugged for a long moment in silence, watching over our pups. 

* * *

Kinoe seemed to have forgotten the night before, but Kakashi woke up in a somber mood and was very clingy to me and Sakumo. It was a hurdle to make him go to the Academy in the morning. Sakumo took Kakashi with him before the little tyke could run and hide behind my frock, shunshin-ed quickly and left Kinoe with me. 

I talked to Obito when he woke up while I spoon fed him some porridge. I slowly prepped Obito in regards to death. I promised him I would help him set up the funeral and he could hold my hand throughout, if he wanted. I kept him under soft blankets most of the morning, keeping him company. By the middle of the day, he looked better than yesterday, following me everywhere while I prepared our lunch. 

Kakashi returned from the Academy with a bit more cheerful mood, so we spent the afternoon playing in the garden. Obito sat beside me in silence, while Kinoe chased his older brother with his little feet. We had sweet fruit cakes and savoury rice cakes as snacks. I was glad that the three of them devoured their snacks with gusto. In the end, I asked Sakumo to excuse myself from the Nara-meeting for the week. These boys needed me more than Shikaen or the village did. 

Obito told me he was ready to return to the Academy by morning of day three. I let him go with Kakashi in the morning. But it proved to be a bad decision, because Kakashi returned without Obito in tow. He informed me that the Uchiha clan member dragged Obito back to their compound because Obito needed to take care of the funeral himself. It raised my temper, which brought me right to the Uchiha compound’s main gate, guns blazing. The guards wouldn’t let me in, so I requested a meeting with the Clan Head. They told me to return in two days for the meeting. 

I was very angry that night, quipped at everything until Sakumo snapped at me for being insensible. He told me that kids were resilient, ninja kids even more so. I was exaggerating things. Being angry solved nothing. I screamed at him for being such a heartless ninja and hid myself in our bedroom. 

I calmed myself down after punching my pillows, finally stopped refusing to admit that Sakumo was right. I was supposed to be calm for Tamago-chan. I was supposed to act as an adult. So when I was ready, I exited the bedroom and apologised to my family. They forgave me and we ended up having a story night, where Sakumo read my book to all of us while we snuggled with each other. When the kids were asleep, Sakumo told me he would come with me to the Uchiha compound. 

Two days later I found Sakumo and I met the Uchiha Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku. I was surprised because he was too young to be the Clan Head, but apparently the previous Clan Head passed away earlier in the year, so Fugaku as his heir took over. I bluntly asked to adopt Obito into my family, which irked Fugaku, because Obito was an Uchiha orphan. When I inquired who he lived with now, Fugaku informed us that Obito was almost emancipated -- because he would be graduating in another few years, so he should be able to take care of himself and little adopted brother, Shisui. 

“With all due respect, are you insane, Uchiha-sama?” I snarled. “An eight years old is not an adult by any means. And you want to let him live alone while taking care of his little brother? Are you serious!?”

Fugaku's temper flared with my accusation. Sakumo stepped in between us, offering the middle ground. He offered to take care of Obito in our clan compound as an apprentice to Sakumo. The offer was quite generous as well, with no apprentice fee and full living expenses covered by us, Hatake. Sakumo promised Obito would be able to return to Uchiha whenever he wanted, and Sakumo would still teach him the Hatake techniques. Since Clan techniques were very well-kept secret, offering to take an apprentice from another clan was too generous of an offer to refuse. In the end, Fugaku accepted the offer. 

After the discussion, Fugaku took us to Obito’s house, one of the furthest houses by the outskirts of the clan compound. Obito opened the door, looking gloomy when he saw his clan head, but blinked when he saw Sakumo and I. Without wasting time, we kneeled and asked him whether he wanted to live with us as Sakumo’s apprentice. I explained about the implication: he would live with us until he graduated at least, sleeping in the Hatake Boarding House and trained with Kakashi and Kinoe. 

“Do you want to live with us?” I smiled. 

He looked at us and at Fugaku, and with a trembling voice, asked. “Am I? Allowed to do that?”

When Fugaku nodded, Obito cried and jumped into my arms. I shuddered with relief. I have my baby inside my arms, and everything was well again. 

Shisui came three days after that, because Obito asked me to and I fell in love at first sight with the ferocious little boy. Kinoe blinked when he saw little Shisui, unused to see a child smaller than himself. But he was a natural big brother, because without much preamble, he shared his rubber kunai with Shisui. Shisui was small, but he was far more active than Kinoe. He could crawl on four legs faster than Kinoe could tumble, so it became another chase around the kotatsu. I laughed watching them playing and Kinoe laughed too when he saw me laughing at them. Little Shisui mumbled something, splattering saliva everywhere, then ran towards me and flopped onto my lap. Kinoe followed suit and I had two little bumps in addition to my stomach. 

I found camaraderie with little Shisui when we finished a pack of marshmallows between us, while Kinoe preferred to munch on oranges. Shisui’s eyes were not as huge as Kinoe’s, but they were big and the little chick knew how to use them to ask for more treats. I knew it would be a challenge to discipline this little chick. 

Shisui, with all his preciousness, was not very fond of baths or water. It was a hard challenge to make him wash his hands and feet. Luckily Obito was already used to it, so usually Obito took Shisui to bathe with him daily. Kakashi found it amusing, then took Kinoe to bathe together as well. Kinoe shyly let his onii-chan wash his hair. Then Kakashi summoned his two ninken to take a bath as well, joining Obito and Shisui, and the bathroom became a sea of bubbles. The four of them plus two ninken ended up taking a bath together. 

It took me half an hour to clean up the messy bathroom afterward. 

We spent Sakumo’s next day off with family outings, which fortunately coincided with Orochimaru’s return from his latest mission. Orochimaru was surprised with the additional two Uchiha chicks, but he shrugged when Sakumo huffed, ‘don’t ask’ at him. We brought our family to eat in Akamichi’s BBQ place (and received a discount again, thanks to Akachimi Chouza’s generosity), then continued to shop for our kids and for another dining table. We also get other household items required, like children shampoos, more underwears and socks, as well as cleaning products. 

The Uchiha boys slept in the private room beside Orochimaru. The room used to be Minato’s to my sadness. Both boys were happy because they had their own beds with their own working desk and wardrobe. Obito and Shisui didn’t have much belongings, so we ended up purchasing new toys for Shisui and new prank sets for Obito. I kind of fretted over my budget because of it, but finally I reached a compromise with myself of getting a new book soon to cover the additional food budget. 

When everyone has settled in their respective beds, I asked Sakumo whether he regretted this. He huffed and told me to stop fretting, just sleep. 

* * *

Kushina, like always, came back to me in a whirlwind. 

“Kaori-san!” she called me out loud when she returned from her last mission. “I am back!” 

I blinked, wondering why she came to Hatake Compound after the mission, but then realised that whatever happened to Minato, was his choice only, and it impacted Kushina none whatsoever. Kushina was still a young woman that needed my guidance, and I should harbour no grudge against her. 

I smiled and welcomed her back, inviting her to join our lunch. Kinoe and Shisui watched us with huge, huge eyes. Kushina squeed over them, went to take a bath in the Boarding House, and returned in a jiffy with wet hair and lots of snacks. 

“Souvenirs,” She grinned as she put the whole box of snacks. “From Wave Country.” 

We ended up snackin on manju together. She was surprised with my pregnancy news (she left for her mission before the announcement), and happy with Shisui’s addition. Shisui’s sugar-fueled hyperactive attitude and Kushina’s exuberant approach mixed up very well into a very explosive, animated discussion of pranks. Kinoe turned to me and we silently smiled at each other. 

When the kids were distracted, Kushina turned to me and asked whether Minato had returned from his latest mission. I paused before telling her I wasn’t sure, because Minato has left the Boarding House since a few weeks ago. 

Kushina blanched at my answer. “Why? What happened?”

I poured another cup of tea for both of us. “It’s his decision, Kushina-san.”

She was not satisfied with my answer but I left her to her own thoughts. We ended up discussing her mission to the Wave country before making dinner together. She bashfully asked me to help her train--to accompany her while she talked with her ‘tenant’. Apparently she has made some progress, because Kurama has stopped threatening to eat her, now just snapped half-heartedly at her. She also slowly loosen up her chakra chain jail on him, which gave the bijuu some relief. 

I congratulated her on the progress and gave her a pat on the hair as reward. She grinned with red cheeks and told me she would make even more progress soon. She was such a lively young woman, I hoped her all the best. 

(Sakumo returned home to see Kushina as the newest addition--the last time he met Kushina, he was so down over the death of his team member that he kind of forgot about her a bit. Kushina bulldozed over my husband’s politeness and by the end of dinner, Sakumo already accepted her as one of our broods. 

“See? I don’t think you’ll ever run out of children to mother around at this rate.” he grinned at me before we went to bed. I pouted and told him “a good husband would never mock their treasured wife”. He only chuckled in return and kissed me to oblivion). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters to go! Plus an epilogue :D 
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting!


	19. The point of return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad last trimester. 
> 
> Is it a dream?

I reluctantly woke up when someone gently called me. 

Entering the third trimester of my pregnancy, everything became heavier and I felt tired all the time. Now in my twentieth week, my tummy has become rounder and my chest swollen. My normal daily tunic which used to be nicely oversized became rather tight. But the biggest change was the constant lethargy. If my family let me, I would be able to sleep the day away. There was no hunger or nausea, just extreme tiredness. My limbs were heavy and my eyes felt sleepy most of the time. But sleep was not an enjoyment either, because Tamago chan seemed to find my bruised liver as a great boxing sandbag.

I saw Sakumo’s smile. “Good morning, love.” 

It never failed to make me smile back. “Good morning.. Is it morning already?”

“Yes.” he nodded, “It’s almost nine. You need to eat something.”

Oh I was extremely late, then. The kids must have gone to the Academy. “I am sorry.” I apologised, knowing that I have been waking up late consistently for the past week. “I’ll be up soon.” 

“Do you want to take today off?” my husband sounded worried. “Your body is rather warm.” 

“No, I am fine, Hubby. Thank you.” I tried to reassure him but my head was still a bit groggy. I was wholly unprepared for being pregnant. I expected I would be able to still do my usual activities with minor adjustments. In reality, I was almost reduced to a sitting stone. It was embarrassing how I thought I could tempt Sakumo to have frequent hot pregnant sex. Now that I was very visibly pregnant, I couldn’t even wake up, let alone try to act sexy. I always offered my hand to help him though, yet Sakumo almost refused me, saying that he was alright. 

I cradled my belly while slowly waking up and waddled towards the bathroom. Tamago-chan was silent this morning, but still sitting on top of my bladder. The only redemption was with my current condition, both Danzo and Shikaen have reduced the number of meetings and discussion. Sometimes they even accommodate me by coming to Hatake compound instead. Taeko also came often, bearing some fresh produce that saved me from needing to go to the market by myself. Akimichi Shio, the kind middle aged lady whom I hired as the boarding house’s caretaker also helped a lot with Akimichi family potions for pregnancy. The potions helped a lot with the morning sickness that came with vengeance starting the seventh month. I wasn’t sure whether my condition was normal for a pregnancy, or was it because of Kaori's body rejection to the baby’s growing chakra. 

Nevertheless, it was a challenge and a half just to wake up, let alone taking care of my kids. I felt very guilty when everytime I woke up on the sofa, I saw Kakashi and Obito herding the little ones with them away so that they wouldn’t disturb me. I still prepared their snacks most of the time, however meals were mostly made by combination of my husband, Orochimaru and Kushina’s effort (this caused a bit of change in our family’s balance, as everyone loved Orochimaru’s cookings but dreaded my husband’s or Kushina’s). Laundry was tackled by the combined effort of everyone (in which I learned how independent Obito was, because he was used to doing his own laundry. Another wave of guilt and pride hit me when I saw Obito teaching Kakashi how to fold the clothes. I praised them separately for it). Cleaning was sparse, only happened when I had the energy or it really needed to be cleaned right away. My husband has offered to bring the smaller kids to the childcare, but I refused because aside from our current tight budgets, I didn’t want them to associate the baby with abandonment. 

Call me a miser, but I tried to reuse everything from Kakashi’s. The wooden crib, the traditional baby sitting chair, the infant clothes and the cloth diapers. Sakumo brought it out from our dusty storeroom. I managed to clean and washed them properly before putting them in our bedroom. However, there were still things I needed to buy new, such as bottles and blankets. But with my current lethargy, I couldn’t afford a simple shopping spree. I missed online shopping very, very much (I daydreamed of starting my own errand company like Uber Eats, then I remembered that Konoha monopolised the runner service industry with their genin D-ranks. So maybe not a feasible plan because I already antagonised the government as it was).

The other thing that slightly peeved me was Kushina’s initiative to drag Minato back to the family. She took his (on and off) boyfriend to our place to help her with groceries, cooking or laundry. It seemed that they had a long talk about his abandonment of the ‘pack’ and Minato wouldn’t tell Kushina why, so she insisted he come everytime she could drag him along. Minato, weak to his girlfriend and let himself be dragged along, tried to avoid me, but sometimes I woke up from my sofa nap (ha! It felt like I hibernated everyday!) and found him teaching Kinoe and Shisui some basic math literacy. I didn’t feel comfortable trusting him with my kids, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. It was slightly awkward between Minato and I when he was around. But I couldn’t tell him not to come, especially since he was great with the little ones. I always thanked him whenever he helped, yet our interaction was stiff and uncomfortable. The only one who caught on was Kakashi, which made him defensive whenever Minato was around us. 

“How are you feeling today?” my husband asked from the kitchen as I wandered into the dining table (we have expanded our table. Now we could seat everyone, until Tamago-chan came). 

“Slightly better than yesterday,” I joked and parked myself on one of the chairs and took a slice of egg sandwich. I craved sugary things, but I am in danger of gestational diabetes, so I curbed it down with warm tea. “Thank you for the food, Sakumo. Where are Kinoe and Shisui?” 

“Here, Kaa-chan!” Tenzo called, and I turned to see them coming into the room. “We’ve finished training!”

Tenzou and Shisui ran towards me. I let them hug me tight before lavishing them with praise. They were sweaty and flushed, glowing from the good exercise. I asked them to clean up a bit before promising them the egg sandwiches for mid morning snack. 

“Thank you, Sakumo.” I smiled at him when he sat next to me, watching our littles ran toward the bathroom. “I’ll take care of them now, so you can go to work.” 

Sakumo kissed my temple. “Don’t worry about it, Kaori. I have the morning free anyway.” 

Just when I thought the day was going to be wonderful, it all went belly up. A knock on the door revealed an ANBU who signed to my husband and he turned rather pale. He nodded to the ANBU before they disappeared, then turned to me. 

“The Hokage calls us. We are to meet him in an hour.” 

I groaned and buried my face on his neck. 

* * *

In the end we were late. In my defense, I couldn’t walk faster than my current snail pace, with my back pain as well as protruding belly that slightly changed my gravity. We also sent our littles to childcare first, and had a little drama when Kinoe melted down and refused to let us go. In the end the promise of afternoon cakes and kisses calmed him, before he took Shisui’s little hand and went to the children playing ground. 

When we arrived, I found myself very, very anxious. Not only I felt stiflingly hot from hormones, the building itself felt repressing. The hall smelled like an old, stale building. The people were silent and glancing at us with unreadable eyes, so I tried to keep my smile on. My husband brought us to the third level, where he asked the secretary beforing knocking on one of the rooms. 

The room was almost full when we went in. I took a sweeping view of the room and was surprised when there were more people than what I expected. The room was big, with a round table on it, with fifteen seats around. The Hokage was seated on the end of the table, with Shikaen on his left and Danzo on his right. Yamanaka was seated beside Shikaen and Akamichi, with Fugaku, a man that must be a Hyuuga with those lavender eyes, a masculine looking lady with face tattoos I guessed as an Inuzuka, a man with black tinted glasses and closed clothes whom I guessed was an Aburame, two men of clan background I wasn’t sure of, Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Minato. On Danzo’s side, there were two elders whom I guessed were Utatane Kohane and Homura Mitokado. 

There were only two seats left, which my husband and I sat on. 

My husband apologised for our tardiness, citing my condition. I just nodded and let him explained for us. The Hokage nodded. 

“Shall we begin then?” he asked. 

I observed the most influential man in Konoha right now--Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was not as old as I thought, because he was still younger than when he was in Naruto’s timeline. His eyes were sharp and there was no grandfatherly kindness he showed to Naruto. He has a pipe on his hand, but it wasn’t lighted. His hair was brown and spiky, his face marked with two lines that added to the fierce feeling he emitted. His voice was heavy with sharp, quick words. 

“Today’s Council meeting is to discuss a new development of things that may greatly affect Konoha,” he started. “It has been brought to me from many sources and has been verified by related teams. This concerns a possible threat to the Village.” 

Everyone nodded. 

He called me. “Hatake Kaori.” 

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” I bowed slightly. 

“My sources inform me of your knowledge in regards to this threat. You stated that Uchiha Madara is still alive,” the room started to buzz, “And is going to be a threat to Konoha. Elaborate on that, please.” 

My husband grasped my hand, and nodded. I started my tale. Starting from Kaguya’s story, her descent to madness, her sealment onto the moon and the birth of Black Zetsu. I continued that Uchiha Madara had found the fake tablet in the Uchiha’s shrine (which made Fugaku question how did I know, but the Hokage told him to keep the question till the end of my statement), which pushed him into the madness, betrayed Konoha and went down by Shodaime’s sword. I closed the story with Zetsu finding him, and how they were hiding, biding their time to attack Konoha and locked the world with Infinite Tsukuyomi. 

When I finished, the silence ended. Everybody started to speak and question me, with Fugaku most animatedly questioning my validity. Both Shikaen and Danzo observed me closely, while my husband tried to shield me from the room with his body ( it might work three months ago, but now I was significantly wider). 

“Silence!” the Hokage called for attention, and the room died down. 

“Hokage-sama, if I may,” Fugaku was the first one to ask. “What is her credential? Her information seemed like a fairytale.” 

“Fairytale is a form of information delivery, Fugaku-sama.” I answered immediately. “A lot of superstition and fairytales are knowledge passed through generations. People learn and retain more from stories rather than direct talking.” 

“So this information of yours, is just from a fairytale, then?” He (almost) sneered at me. 

“If I may,” Danzo suddenly interjected. “Hatake Kaori is of Kurama Clan who are famous for their genjutsu and also clairvoyant Kekkei Genkai. I have verified that based on her DNA, she is indeed of Kurama Clan descent.” 

“I second Shimura-sama.” Orochimaru added. “From my blood analysis, Kaori-san is indeed of Kurama descent and possesses soothsayer ability.” 

I almost blushed. It was kind of weird to have more people support me in this kind of formal meeting. Usually Danzo and I would argue, but he clearly showed his support on me in this forum. Moreover, both Danzo and Orochimaru, as Elder and a Sannin respectively, were political powers to be reckoned with. I could see Fugaku struggle to stain my reputation (not that I was a clairvoyant, but that was not the point here). I could see the Hokage and the rest of the room were a bit stunned by the display of support from Danzo and Orochimaru, which added credibility to my story. 

Meanwhile, Shikaen gleefully observed the situation as it unveiled. Damn that bastard, he was just happy he didn’t need to argue with me for once. 

“The Kurama clan doesn’t acknowledge you.” suddenly one of the men whom I couldn’t guess the clan, spoke out. “This woman is not registered in our Clan registration.” 

Oh my. If I was the real Kaori, I must have been so hurt, being rejected by her own clan. Fortunately, I didn’t care a bit about Clan prestige and such. For all I care, Hatake was my Clan. 

My husband seemed to agree with me. “The Hatake Clan is proud to call Kaori as Clan Matriarch, Kurama-dono. Your loss is our gain.”

I smiled at my husband and enjoyed his closeness to me. His claim on me just melted me down. If only I could move better (and we were not in a formal setting), I would already steal a kiss from him. 

“Right. Let’s return to the main discussion.” The Hokage sighed. “Kaori-san, do you have additional information?” 

I hesitated before answering. “Currently I can only offer what I know, Hokage-sama. I can tell you the names of nine bijuus, as well as the general location of the Gedo-Mazo statue. I can also inform you on Zetsu’s overall ability, and his plan. Moreover, I know that Konohagakure has the Kyuubi, while Sunagakure has the Ichibi; Kumogakure has Matatabi and Hachibi; Kirigakure has Sanbi, Yonbi, and Gobi; Kirigakure has Rokubi; while Takigakure has Nanbi. I can call out some of their current jinchuuriki, but not everyone.” 

The room was silent when I finished my recollection. 

“.... You wrote that damn children storybook.” Utatane spoke. 

I kept my silence. My belly hurt, so I soothed Tamago-chan and myself with slow rub. 

The silence was condemning.

“That aside, Hokage-sama,” Shikaen cut through the silence, “We need to plan ahead to tackle this situation that Hatake-san has brought to us.” 

“Agreed, Hokage-sama,” The Akamichi Head added, “With this kind of information, we need to do something.”

Another agreement from Yamanaka, Inuzuka and (probably) Aburame Clan Head. The Hokage concurred. It continued into further discussion on details, which was drilled out of me. Unfortunately I only knew the vague location--the Mountain Graveyard--and Zetsu’ ability of shape changing, time-delayed spore to absorb chakra, as well as acting as controlling parasitic entity. 

The meeting carried on and every minute passed felt like a year for me. The arguments were flying over my head, because although I knew things, I didn’t have the power to tackle it head on. And my body was too sweaty, flushed and weak. I almost fell asleep a few times, and by the fourth time I almost went face down onto the table from sleepiness, my husband called out to the meeting and requested my leave. When the Hokage agreed, a relief fell on me and I closed my eyes. 

The last thing I felt was my husband carried me out of the room. 

* * *

In the end, the meeting went on until the next day. 

I didn’t join the next day’s meeting, but my husband informed me of the decision in the end. An all out attack team would be dispatched to the Mountain Graveyard with the main objective to eliminate the Gedo Mazo, Zetsu and Madara. The team chosen was Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Inuzuka Tsume (the daughter of current Clan Head), Fugaku, Minato and my husband. Minato was assigned as the team leader. 

“No.” I immediately refused. “No, I won’t let you go.” 

“Kaori…”

“I don’t share all this information for you to go and get yourself killed. No.” 

“Love, please.” 

“I don’t know what will be waiting for you there, Hubby. I don’t know how this will end. I don’t know whether you’ll be alright. I don’t want to risk that. Please, please, stay?” 

“It’s better for me to finish this first before they hurt Kakashi, Love.” 

“No. please…?”

He wiped my tears away, and hugged me. But he offered no promises. I knew why. 

Sakumo was in the team as the guarantor to my information’s authenticity. 

* * *

The day before the team was scheduled to go, the Hokage actually came to our home. 

Kakashi and Obito were in awe when they saw the Hokage by the front door. It was night time, just a mere half an hour after dinner. I was sitting on the sofa with the little ones writing (Kinoe) and drawing (Shisui), while Sakumo was off with the team for a last minute briefing. Obito volunteered to open the door (to run from his homework) when someone knocked on it, and Kakashi raced him to the door. 

“Hello, boys.” the Hokage smiled. “Is your mother at home?” 

The boys nodded and let him in. I was surprised when he joined us in the living room. 

“Hokage-sama.” I bowed from my seat, but I couldn’t rise up because of my girth. “To what do I get the honor of this visit…?”

“I need to talk to you, privately, Kaori-san, if I may call you so.” 

I nodded, “Of course, Hokage-sama.” and to the kids, I asked Kakashi and Obito to go to Kakashi’s room for a bit, with their little brothers in tow. I thanked my boys and watched until they entered their room and the door was closed. 

I knew they must be listening too, but I could keep my voice low. 

“My apology for not being able to serve you better.” I flushed with embarrassment. The lukewarm tea between us was what I could make on such a short notice. 

“No, it’s absolutely fine. Thank you, Kaori-san. I am sorry to drag you into the meeting yesterday with your current condition.” He smiled, letting me see some of the kindness that he would show to Naruto, “I hope everything is fine?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama, thank you for your concern.” 

“... Right. Actually I am here to discuss this.” he pulled out a script that I recognised very well. It was my Narutoverse script. “Minato showed me this, and I need to ask about its authenticity. Did you write this?”

“... It is one of the possible futures.” I conceded. 

“It is rather… a dark future.” he smiled sadly. I could see where he came from. With Sarutobi’s return to the Hokage-ship after Minato’s death, and his death at the hand of his favourite student must be difficult. 

“... It is what I saw, Hokage-sama.” I smiled encouragingly. “Neither Konoha nor my own family will fare well in the future. That is why I tried my best to make things right. And this is a step towards that. In the end, the future I knew might already have changed with my sharing of this information to you. I just hope this serves as a warning of a possible future ahead. I knew several possible ones, but this is, let’s say, ‘canon’.”

“‘Canon’?”

“The ‘original’.” I smiled. “The fated one. Things might change, but the overall ending would be the same, as long as there is Zetsu and Kaguya.” 

“Ah.” he nodded and flipped through it. “It seemed I would have a grandson.”

“Yes, Konohamaru is a very active, kind boy.” I smiled. “He will be a great Jounin sensei.” 

“That’s nice to hear.” the Sandaime chuckled weakly, before stopping. “... And Danzo…?”

“...You know him better than I do, Hokage-sama.” I whispered. 

“Is he as bad as what you wrote them to be?” 

“... My husband’s mission was sabotaged by ROOT.” I sighed. “But the current Danzo-sama is still a great man. I … I am trying to keep him away from the darkness. Zetsu manipulating him made him the driving force behind the Third Shinobi War.”

“And there will be a war?”

“In my knowledge, yes. But it started mostly because of the sabotages by ROOT. If it can be stopped, then maybe there will be no Third Shinobi War. Konoha will still have political issues with Iwa, Kiri and Kumo because of Uzushio, but again, I have the feeling that Zetsu was the main manipulator behind that blasted attack on Uzushio. Iwa, Kiri and Kumo are too prideful to work together just to obliterate one Village.” 

“Hmmm.” Sarutobi just nodded and listened to me. “What do you think we should do, then?” 

“Ah.” I blushed. “I… I have several ideas, but Danzo-sama and Nara-sama always told me I am too naive to suggest it.” 

“Oh? I am intrigued. Please do tell.” 

I rubbed my abdomen slowly and inhaled. “Right. Some of the reasons why the war happened is because of the imbalance in the economy. Konoha’s monopoly on missions made the smaller villages desperate for a fight for money. Why don’t we share the missions with them, while expanding our mission coverage? Not only just fighting or as a bodyguard, but also making art with Kekkei Genkai, agriculture with doton jutsu, sharing our medic nin, etc? Also providing mental health support for Shinobis--because everyone needs mental health support, Sir. A healthy mind produces the healthiest soldier.”

He didn’t respond, so I kept my silence and drank my tea. I knew he must have agreed with Danzo and Shikaen that I was too ‘naive’ for asking all that. But he asked me anyway, so… 

“Can we achieve the peace Shodaime and Nidaime stove for?” he asked softly. 

“Not now, but we will.” I smiled. “There will always be new enemies, new problems, but our children won’t be fighting a war before their time.” 

“... Thank you for your time, Kaori-san.” Sarutobi finally responded with a smile. “It’s been enlightening discussion.” 

“The pleasure is mine, Hokage-sama.” I bowed. “My apologies for not able to serve better refreshment.” 

He chuckled. “But not for being too frank?”

I blushed and shrunk to myself. The Hokage took pity on me and stood up. I followed him to the door, and greeted him away. I turned inside to tuck my boys in. They were too excited about Hokage’s presence and refused to sleep. We decided to have a sleepover and let Obito sleep in Kakashi’s room and Shisui in Kinoe’s. 

It felt like the calm before the storm. 

* * *

I couldn’t bid Sakumo goodbye at the gates, so I waved him off by our doorstep. 

He smiled reassuringly at me, promising me he would be back safely. I couldn’t even smile and just sobbed pitifully. I hated this crybaby I was being right now. But the mission awaited, so he left us. 

Waiting wasn’t my best forte. If I thought waiting for Sakumo’s botched mission was bad, this was worse than that. Adding my pregnancy onto it made it even worse. And since neither Sakumo nor Orochimaru wasn’t around to help, taking care of the boys became a mountain and a half. My tummy became even rounder. Increasingly, the nausea turned to a bad chill or fever. I woke up with a nosebleed for the past three days. I knew I needed to tell Yui-sensei, but I had no energy to walk to the hospital. It was really, really exhausting. 

The bright side was Kushina-chan. She stayed in the village doing some research work. In all actuality, she was granted permission by Shikaen to work on her relationship with Kyuubi, as per Minato’s request. Kushina helped me take care of the kids, and I was very grateful for her. Her energy tired even Shisui, so usually by night time the boys were complacent enough for wash and sleep. 

I accompanied Kushina throughout her meditation, encouraging her to speak more and more to Kurama. One day, she managed to actually pull his chakra to her chain, and her chain glowed white like Naruto’s sage mode. I congratulated her, when I realised it wasn’t Kushina, but the Kyuubi was looking at me through her eyes. 

“ _ Who are you?” _ He asked. “ _ Why do you do this?”  _

I blinked. “Ah… Kyuubi-san?”

_ “Call me Kurama, like you already know.”  _

“Thank you. It’s an honor to be able to use your name.” I bowed slightly. “I just want to help. Isn’t it better to be friends than hating each other? I know about Madara’s power over you when you first destroyed Konoha. You were a victim too. It’s not really fair, but this is the card that we are given, so we need to use it to the best of our ability.” 

“ _ Aren’t you an arrogant human?”  _

I shrugged. “I’ve come to term with it. I want my family to be happy, and since Kushina is my family, and you are inside Kushina, so I consider you kind of a family too. And if I can use my knowledge to make my family better, then so be it.” 

_ “What do you even know about us?”  _

“I know you are good, Kurama-san.” I smiled. “And your siblings as well. Maybe you can talk to them? I believe there is this dimension plane for all of you to connect with each other. They missed you. Siblings shouldn’t be isolated or fight with each other. As a parent myself, I believe Hagoromo-sama wouldn’t like it.”

_ “I can eat you now and no one would know.”  _

I chuckled. “I often get that. Well, can you wait till my baby is born before eating me, please?” 

He didn’t reply and the next moment Kushina returned and blinked. 

“Kaori-san?” she asked. “Did I fall asleep?” 

I chuckled and patted her head. “No, Kushina-chan. You are doing great.” 

She smiled and flushed happily, “Of course, Dattebane!” 

* * *

It was mid afternoon, two weeks into my eight months when everything happened. 

My kids were playing in the garden, with me sitting on the engawa with a bowl of marshmallow. Shisui took one every time he could, so I guarded my bowl zealously in my lap. Alas, I was weak to those big puppy eyes so Shisui always got one more marshmallow from me. 

_ “You.”  _

I blinked when a black and white human-shape thing appeared before all of us. Kakashi and Obito stopped jumping around but the humanoid was too close to Kinoe. 

“Kinoe!” I shouted and stood up too quickly, just to lose my balance and fell onto the earth, belly down. The pressure from the impact nauseated me and made me vomit. Immediately I became even more panicked for the baby. 

_ “You ruin everything.”  _ It hissed and sounded so near. I tried to look up and was grabbed by my hair to see the nightmarish dark and white face.  _ “You better die.” _

“Release my mother!” Kakashi shouted somewhere next to us. My nausea came crashing and I couldn’t help but vomit out. My vomit soiled Zetsu’s feet. He didn’t seem to care and kept dragging me up. My hair and head hurt. I tried to claw his arms to no avail. I screamed from pain when he dragged me enough that the chuck of hair pulled out of my scalp. 

Suddenly the hand let me go and I slipped back, hard, onto the dirty earth. My face hurt, my head hurt, my abdomen hurt and I worried over my baby. I tried to push myself up, when I felt small hands touch my arms. I turned to see Kinoe and Shisui on me. They looked scared and were crying. I groaned and turned myself instead, so I laid on my back on the ground. 

“Hush baby, don’t cry.” I tried to smile, gathering my sons near. They sobbed and pushed into my shoulders. With my face to the sky, I tried to make sense of what was happening. 

Two ANBUs with masks were fighting Zetsu. I saw Kakashi and Obito standing before me and the littlest. 

“Kakashi… Obito…?” I asked. “Are you alright?”

“Kaa-chan!” Kakashi turned to me, but kept his stance. “I will protect you from it!” 

“Kaori-baa-san, are you alright?” Obito asked worriedly. “I think you should go to the hospital.” 

At that moment one of the ANBU used a doton and created an Earth wall which made the ground I was on shook. Oh Kami, it felt so bad for my nausea. I tried to not vomit again and pulled the boys from my shoulder. 

“Help… Kaa-chan up?” I asked them and they complied, pulling from my shoulders. Kinoe tried to pull my arms, but I was too heavy for him. Slowly I used my right elbow as support to push my upper body up. When I finally managed to get up, there was an explosion that pushed all of us further. I tumbled around and reflectively tried to protect my abdomen. A flop sound was heard when I fell on my left shoulder. 

“Hatake-san.” a new voice suddenly spoke near me. “Let me take you to the hospital.” 

“My … boys?” I asked the Tiger-mask ANBU. “Are they alright?” 

“We will take care of them.” they said as they pulled me up. My shoulder twitched and I might have dislocated my shoulder from the tumbling. 

“My boys, please… save them.” 

They just nodded and pulled me up onto princess carry. I turned my head to catch a glimpse of the fight: Zetsu seemed to have duplicated itself into several humanoids, which was fought by several ANBU and … was that Shikaen? I also saw my pup fighting alongside Obito against one Zetsu clone. 

I wanted to call on Kakashi and Obito to stop and let the ANBU to fight, when my stomach hurt so much and something popped between my legs. My stomach felt like bursting and cold sweat covered my face. My heart was pacing too quickly and it was hard to breathe. 

Shit. I might be losing my baby and having a shock. 

The last thing I remembered was seeing Kakashi's face turning to see me before everything went dark. 

  
  


* * *

I woke up in a… car? It felt like a small enclosed space with many machines and there were two men beside me, shouting between themselves. 

The siren was loud. _ Am I in an ambulance? _ But there was no ambulance in Konoha. 

Why was I in an Ambulance?

They told me to stay awake, but I felt very, very sleepy. So I slept. 

* * *

I woke up in the hospital, feeling like I was punched on the gut by Godzilla. The machine was beeping next to me, and the IV pole has a bag linked to my arm. The room was painted in white and light blue. My head felt a bit floaty. I blinked and pinched myself. I was alive. 

The door was opened, and my brother walked in. He looked wrecked with dark under eye bags, but he smiled when he saw me awake. “Welcome back to the world of living, Sis. You have been in a coma for two days.” 

I felt like I had forgotten something important. 

“...How...my baby…?”

“Baby?” he asked, “You were not pregnant, were you? The doctor didn’t mention anything about it.” 

Something was wrong. I was pregnant. I should be pregnant, right? Something felt wrong in my head. I tried to speak more, but my throat was too dry. My brother helped me with a glass of water and pushed the call button. A nurse came in and checked me. She told us I just woken up from my comma. My doctor would come soon to check on me. 

My brother sighed. “... You almost gave me a heart attack, sis. I was called and was told you got stabbed.” 

Ah. 

I got stabbed, didn’t I?

But why did it feel so wrong? 

My head hurt when I tried to think, and the nurse told me to go back to sleep for some rest. 

So I did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apology for bad grammar and bad writing. I try to finish this as quick as I can. I think I am getting a new job soon (Thank GOD!) and so cannot write for this as often anymore. 
> 
> English is hard. Need sleep.


	20. The END

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter that ties everything in a (not) neat bow. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Someone was calling my name. 

I rubbed my eyes and looked up. A lean figure stood in front of me. I recognised her very well. 

“Kaori-san.” 

She smiled. Oh, that must be how I looked when I smiled in her body. She looked soft and gentle, wearing her (our) usual top and mid-skirt. Her dark hair was elegantly french braid sideways, reaching her chest. Her dark eyes have speckled gold framed with double eyelids between a cute button nose. 

“I have been wanting to meet you for a long time.” She sat in front of me, seiza style. I straightened myself and mirrored her posture. 

“Hi.” She shyly said. 

“Hi, too.” I smiled shyly back. It felt weird. She was familiar but not familiar. I knew her and I lived her life for at least 2 years, but I have never met her before. She never saw me either, I guessed. 

“Thank you.” She started. “Thank you for keeping Sakumo and Kakashi happy and alive.” 

“Oh, please don’t mind it. It was my pleasure to do so.” I nodded. Actually, she shouldn’t thank me. “I… I am sorry I took over your life.”

Her eyes dimmed with sadness. “I… It’s alright. It's you who was there for them. I … My time has finished. I tried to stay, you see. I tried to hold on that weak thread of life. But living in a comma was not living. It wasn’t fair to Sakumo or Kakashi… or myself. I saw how my selfishness tortured my beloved. So I let go. I … let them go. I gave up on them… and you came instead. So, there is nothing to forgive.”

My eyes turned wet. Just a bit. “... It’s not your fault. I was… am blessed to know them. I love them. Very much. I am sorry.” 

She shook her head. “I see. They are so loveable, are they not? I love them too.” her tears fell and she smiled but her smile was bitter. “I miss them so much. I want to kiss Sakumo, one last time. I want to hug Kakashi one more time. I cannot do that, but you… you can. So please love them, for me?” 

“I will.” the words came out without my control. “I will always love them, for you, for me too.” 

“Sorry. I don’t mean to come out as… jealous.” She chuckled and wiped her face off her tears. “This supposed to be a cheerful talk, not … this.” 

I didn’t reply, because I understood her. Kaori was the owner of the body I occupied in Narutoverse. Her life was hard but she preserved. When she got her happiness in the form of a beautiful family, she succumbed to coma and then, death. I came in like a thief, taking over her body and enjoying the happiness, while she watched us from above. 

My guilt felt like a foul tasting ball inside my chest. 

“Please don’t blame yourself over this,” She coaxed, her smile returned. “I am here not to guilt trip you. I am here to ask you to return to my universe. As always, I am very selfish. I cannot condone my family to grief. My old body is waiting for you, if you want to return back. I know it’s very selfish of me to ask for this, while you have your original life open for you. I can’t… but you can. So… I beg you to return to my..  _ Our _ family. Please.”

“... Can I even return?”

She nodded. “When we are in this… state, we can see everything that happened, separately. I saw your brother sleeping by your bedside. I also saw Orochimaru-san went to find Tsunade so that she could heal you up while he performed another Edo Tensei on you. I believe you can come back when he calls upon you... _ our _ soul.” 

“Our?” I asked curiously. “What do you mean?”

“You are my reincarnation in a different world.” Kaori explained. “We… We are different, but we are one soul too. We are a variation of a soul. That’s why Edo Tensei called upon you. Because I have been reincarnated, and just as luck had it, had just been stabbed by your... _ our _ ex-boyfriend.”

“Oh.” I chuckled. 

Kaori continued. “That’s why Yamanaka couldn’t see your memory. That’s why you are still  _ you  _ when you were in my body. I see what you did, and I cannot thank you more for it. My husband and son deserve the happiness they have been deprived of.”

“... So you are saying that, Narutoverse world is a parallel universe? Although it is just a story in my universe?” 

She nodded. “You, of all people, will know better. It’s a universe of its own story. And isn’t fairytale a form of information delivery? A lot of superstition and fairytales are knowledge passed through generations. People learn and retain more from stories rather than direct talking.”

I chuckled. She quoted me right to the dot. She chuckled at me as well. 

“So… Yes. I am here to persuade you to return to my body. Even though you have family in your world too.” 

I frowned. I knew what she meant. If I chose now, I wouldn’t be able to return to the world I knew, or google, or laptop, or vacuum cleaner. My apartment and my old occupation. My brother, who only has me left. I would be leaving him alone. 

We haven’t talked for years. We lived our own lives, and our communication was mostly spoken through texts and email reminders. We were not the closest sibling. But I am condemning him to a life alone. He would be an orphan without family if I chose to leave him. He was an adult, of course, he could start his own family. But he would have to face the death of his only sister. Could I do that? 

Kaori watched me as I mulled over my choice. 

Then I remembered Kakashi’s face. Sakumo’s smile. Orochimaru and Tenzou eating my cooking. Obito and Shisui playing in the garden. Kushina-chan. Minato. Jiraiya. Danzo. Shikaen. 

I missed them, very much. 

And I wanted to meet my baby. 

Kaori looked at me with a smile, knowing that I had made up my choice. Her arm raised towards me and touched my chest. 

She gave me a gentle push. I fell backward. 

It felt like a free fall. 

* * *

“...Kaori-san!” 

Orochimaru’s voice called me. When I opened my eyes, his face, which was covered by a surgical mask, greeted me. Behind him, the familiar operating room shone with light too bright on my eyes. 

“Welcome back.” 

I smiled and went back to sleep. 

* * *

The next time I woke up, I felt very much better. 

I was still weak and it was hard to breathe, but at least there was no more pain. My left shoulder was covered in bandages and a sling. My head was wrapped too. I tried to move my right hand to check on my stomach, and my whole torso was covered with bandages that smelled strongly of traditional medicine underneath the hospital gown. I blinked and tried to push the blanket away. Then I pulled the hospital gown and saw a bandaged, deflated stomach. Huh. 

Shouldn’t my tummy be bigger than this? I was pretty sure getting stabbed usually left a scar. Wait. No, I was supposed to be pregnant, wasn’t I?

I tried to sit up and instead of pain on the stomach, I had a painful, whole body cough. My shoulder throbbing with pain. That was new. 

Someone pulled the curtain and a man--white spiky hair with a long ponytail, dark eyes and stress lines on his face in tandem with dark eyes under his eyes as if he didn’t know what sleep was--came in. He looked like he wanted to cry when he saw me awake. 

“Kaori… You are awake.”

This felt like deja-vu. And I knew Kaori. It was my name. 

“ _ Sakumo _ .” I cracked. My mouth felt too dry to speak. 

He slipped beside me, hugging me closely from an awkward angle. His face looked haunted and he must have lost a lot of weight. He pushed my face onto his neck, which I happily complied. His warmth and scent were very familiar, and I missed him so much. 

“Thank Kami.” He whispered behind my ear. “You are awake.” 

His voice sounded sad and wet. I slowly realised he was crying. I couldn’t see his face, but his neck trembled and his chest heaved. 

“..Sakumo.” I cracked again, trying to calm him. My left shoulder hurt when I tried to move them, so I pushed my right arm to touch Sakumo’s. “Sakumo… It’s fine. I am here.”

“Kaori. Oh love.” he kissed my hair, again and again. 

“...You look too thin.” I whispered. “Need to eat more, Hubby…”

He chuckled, but his arms hugged me even tighter. It felt like deja vu, but the reverse--Sakumo was the one on the bed, while I slipped on top of him to hug him. 

“Come up?” I asked, trying to move aside to give him space. He shook his head and let me go. 

“I don’t think I can fit here without pushing you off the bed. Orochimaru-san said you shouldn’t move for at least two days when you woke up.”

“Oh. I see.” I blinked and Sakumo sat on the chair next to me, hand still holding mine. My mouth became dryer and caused me to cough. Sakumo took a glass of water and tried to push it onto my lips. After drinking a few gulp, my mouth felt better. “Thank you, Hubby.” 

He kissed my hand in answer. 

“What happened?” I asked him. “Why… How about our baby? Tamago-chan?”

“She is fine, Love.” Sakumo smiled. I felt laughter bubbled within me. I had a daughter! “Tsunade-san helped the caesarian operation and took Tamago-chan before her chakra pathway poisoned you further. She was a bit underweight because of being prematurely born, but now she is of good weight, fairly healthy and kicking. We still kept her inside the chakra infused incubator, though.” 

“Can I meet her?” I asked, “please?”

“I’ll carry her here once tsunade-san approves.” He smiled. “She is beautiful and perfect, Kaori. Our daughter.” 

My eyes watered a bit. My baby daughter. “Does she have your eyes? Your hair? My face?”

“She has your eyes and lips, Love. She is beautiful.” Sakumo grinned. “But the rest, she is mine.”

I raised my eyebrow questioningly. 

“Like I’ve said, I have superior sperm.” 

I slapped Sakumo’s hand weakly. “Stop it, you!” 

He chuckled, but then went into a sombre mood again. “... I am glad you are back with us. We… I almost lost you again. I was so scared you won’t open your eyes this time.” 

“Sakumo…” I called him weakly. “I am sorry to worry you.”

“... No more, please? I … I think we have enough kids. I won’t ask you for more. We can adopt as much as you want, but no more scaring like this. Please?”

I smiled sadly and nodded. He stood up to give me a kiss on my forehead. 

“... Kakashi? Kinoe?” I asked. “The kids?” 

“They are all … well, not fine. Kakashi refused to let you go the first three days, insisting to sleep here. Kinoe too, crying even though we tried our best to calm him down. Orochimaru took him back, and he has been a little terror since. Obito and Shisui became more reserved. Two days ago, Obito even asked me whether they would be returned to the Uchiha compound.” 

“You didn’t, did you?” I asked quickly. 

“Of course not.” Sakumo huffed. “I won’t ever do that. But, yeah. Our home is not home without you, Love.” 

“... I am sorry to worry all of you.” I frowned. “I am so, so sorry. I am sorry for taking my safety too lightly.” 

He just smiled blandly at me, before turning. “I’ll call the medic nin to check on you.” 

I watched my husband leave my bed, disappeared behind the curtain. I chose him over my brother. I chose my babies over my brother. I wished I could say goodbye to him, but now I have chosen and I didn’t regret it at all. 

The medic nin came and checked my pulse. After a series of checks, it appeared that I was recovering fine. I was told that I had a (healing) wide scar on my scalp, dislocated left shoulder (which has been set back, but I should keep it tied for another month) and a scarred stomach because of the caesarian. Apparently Tsunade did the operation on me without chakra because of my condition. After Tamago-chan was taken up and I stitched back, Orochimaru performed his Edo tensei operation on me for the second time. And I was in comma for two weeks now. Since I couldn’t be exposed to chakra, I was told that my recovery would be slow based on my own body. 

Wow, two weeks. It felt like only two days. 

Sakumo told me to go back to sleep, so I did. The next time I woke up, I found a slightly taller Kakashi, crying Kinoe, subdued Obito and silent Shisui beside my bed. 

“Pups.” I smiled and opened my arms. “Give Kaa-chan a hug, will you?” 

Kinoe jumped onto the bed and clung to my neck. I ignored the pressure pain from his legs on my stomach. Kakashi slipped into my side, clinging too. Shisui took the other side, while Obito grabbed my blanketed leg. It felt like a puppy pile. 

“How are you, hmm?” I asked, kissing every one of them within my reach. “Were you good to Tou-chan and Oro-tou chan?” 

I heard a slight hitch from in front of me and saw Orochimaru was blushing a bit. 

My oldest pup nodded. “... I help take care of Kinoe too.” 

“Good boy.” I praised him. “My good pup.” 

“I listen to Tou-chan!” Kinoe pipped in between his sobs. I kissed his hair. 

“Good job, my sapling. You are a good kid.” 

“I save two mash-mello for you!” Shisui chirped from my side, making me chuckle. I kissed his hair as well. 

“Good boy, Shisui. You are so kind.” I laughed. “And Obito? How about you?”

He didn’t say anything. 

I smiled sadly. “Come here, please? Sorry Kakashi, can you give me some space for Obito? Just a bit?” 

Kakashi froze for a moment before moving aside and let me caught Obito’s hand. 

“Thank you for being such a considerate boy, Obito. You won’t need to return there, I promise. We keep you.” 

Obito bit his lips to keep his tears from flowing down, and quickly rubbed his head before nodding furiously. I let go of him and pulled Kakashi back into my arms. 

“You are my first pup, always.” I whispered to Kakashi. “I love you the longest, so don’t you worry.” 

Having three kids on my arms and another one on my leg, I felt warm and content. Just needed my baby to complete the collection, and it would be perfect. 

“Thank you, Oro-san.” I smiled at the beautiful man beside Sakumo. “Thank you for bringing me back.”

He smiled back at me. “I am glad you are awake.” 

The puppy pile continued with Shisui starting to talk about what he did that morning, and Kinoe slowly stopped sobbing and added on Shisui’s story. Kakashi quipped on a certain part, and my oldest pup pulled Obito to sit nearer to him. My husband and Orochimaru sat on either side of the bed, keeping the kids from falling from the bed.

I felt so happy I cried a bit, which made Kakashi panicked and asked me where I hurt. I explained to him and the rest of the kids about “happy” tears. It ended up with a hug fest and more kisses distributed around. 

After lunch, my husband pushed my wheelchair (the kids went back home with the promise to visit me again tomorrow) to the pediatric wing, where he showed me Tamago-chan. She was a tiny little thing, sleeping soundly inside the glowing glass box. Her pink blanket covered all of her except her head, which showed fluffy silver tuff, flushed cheek and pouty lips. 

“She is beautiful.” I told my husband with teary eyes. “Can I hug him?” 

The kind medic nin who took care of Tamago-chan gave her to me. I bawled with tears when I got her in my hands. It felt like my heart was bursting with love for this little one. Tamago sniffled and her head turned toward my bosom. I kept her there, kissing her again and again. Then I realised something important. 

“Tamago-chan?” I asked her, then I turned to Sakumo. “Hatake Tamago?”

Sakumo sheepishly shrugged. “I didn’t think when I named her. It’s like a habit to call her Tamago.” 

I laughed and promised to make her strong enough to stand up to potential bullies. My daughter would be a strong girl, I believed it. How could she not? She was perfect in every way. 

I finished my inner squeal when the medic nin took her from my arms. She mentioned that Tamago-chan was actually going strong and well, so she could follow me home when I get discharged from the hospital. I sighed in relief and watched as my daughter was put on the box again. She was sleeping soundly, so cute. 

I told Sakumo he should go home and rest. I would be fine for a night, and would still be there when he returned tomorrow. My husband refused to go, so we spent about an hour arguing before he finally relented and went home. I knew he needed to rest. He looked like he has not gotten enough sleep in weeks. 

* * *

I finally caught up on what was going on while I went into a coma. 

My husband and Orochimaru told me about most of it. 

The mission went quite well, with Sakumo and Inuzuka Tsume finding the cave within the second month. They faced Madara and Zetsu. Even though madara has become a living mummy, he was still a proper shinobi with force to be reckoned with. Zetsu was like a cockroach, coming back as long as the Gedo Mazo was there to give him the continuous boost of chakra to survive. While they fought, the part of Zetsu who resided in Konoha as a spy got information from the rest of him, and that was why he attacked me. After a long and hard fight, Madara was killed and Gedo Mazo was burnt to ash. 

When the statue was destroyed, the Zetsu that attacked me disintegrated as well. However, before that, he managed to launch an attack towards Kakashi, who was distracted by me being taken away by a ROOT. Fortunately Shikaen was quick enough to save Kakashi, but he didn’t make it. Zetsu clasped into his mind, and before Zetsu could completely take over him, Shikaen ordered the ANBUs to kill him instead. 

Shikaen’s funeral was held three days after the attack. Nara Shikaku succeeded his father’s place as the Clan Head. With that, the other Ino-Shika-Cho also followed by initiating their sons to be the Clan Head. So Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Choza became Clan Head as well. I went to the Nara compound to apologize and brought my condolences, but Taeko was too deep in grief to accept it, although she told me she didn’t blame us at all. I offered to support her for anything she needed, to which she gracefully rejected. Sakumo told me to give her space, and probably try again next time when the wound was not too fresh. 

Danzo actually came and visited me in the hospital. He took a seat beside my bed, then slowly updated me on our projects: he actually started a proposal for mandatory mental health support for Shinobi. He also told me that Zetsu used to be his “spy” for other villages. After Zetsu’s demise, he could think clearer and realised his warmonger ideas were ridiculous. Nidaime wouldn’t want it, he said. And then he thanked me for it. 

In the spirit of the moment, I let him hold Tamago-chan. 

He blinked and watched my daughter stiffly. I smiled and asked whether Danzo wanted to be her grandfather, as she didn’t have one. Danzo stiffly offered to help me get into the Kurama Clan’s registration, but I rejected the offer. I didn’t want to be recognised by that clan. I was a Hatake, and Hatake only. Danzo finally returned my daughter to me, but he kept giving us some herb teas that were good for lactating mother (I have checked it with the medic nin, and they confirmed it). 

Sakumo told me that Danzo has disbanded ROOT completely. They were integrated back into the ANBUs. I almost dropped my rice bowl when he told me that. Also, Minato was chosen as the next Hokage, based on the recognition for his leadership for the Mountain Graveyard mission and Nidaime’s Hiraishin perfection. However, he still needed another 3 years of Jounin experience, thus Danzo would take over before Minato could take the hat. Hiruzen stepped down from his position a month after Shikaen’s funeral, returning to a Council advisor seat, even though he was still acting as the Sarutobi Clan Head. My husband told me Hiruzen looked like he enjoyed himself very much while pointing out all the arguments he could muster whenever Danzo made a proposal, just because. Danzo looked like he wanted to murder his old team mate everytime. Utatane and Homura became the referee, much to the amusement of the Clan council members. 

Danzo actually complained about Hiruzen to me in one of our discussions. I chuckled and mentioned how it was the council’s job to question every angle, just in case. He huffed and changed the topic instead. He also showed interest in Tamago-chan’s growth, often giving me some baby-related things before I returned to my home. He also expressed his wish to quickly retire and beat Hiruzen in their weekly shogi match. 

My husband became the co-Jonin commander with Shikaku until Shikaku could take over fully. He looked like he enjoyed his work, so I just kissed him and congratulated him. Sakumo chuckled and said that most probably, he would retire after that and then helped me with the Boarding House. I told him he shouldn’t, because he would be bored. Maybe he could be the Chunin commander instead. He just laughed it off, then helped me change Tamago-chan diapers. 

Orochimaru decided he wanted to be a researcher and stayed in the village full time. He has labs beside Tsunade’s office (Tsunade decided she wanted to take over the Hospital with Shizune as his protege), and both of them seemed to hit it off very well, discussing various new medicines or methods. He also (secretly) told me that Danzo appointed him as the ROOT integration trainer, which aimed to integrate the ROOTs members back to ANBU or society. Orochimaru panicked and asked me for help, which I also didn’t know how to. Some of the kids were still young enough to adapt, so they were returned to their respective family. The orphans stayed in my boarding house and became my foster kids. The older ones who could pass the social test were made Jounin, but the other ones who didn’t pass need to join a special socialisation class held by the newly minted Konoha Mental Health Department.

It was a challenge and a half to help the ROOT kids under my wing. There were five of them, and they were all expressionless, mute and violent. I wasn’t sure I could do much, but by week two, the five kids followed Obito like chicks followed their mother. Obito cried to me and told me he didn’t know why they did that. I consoled Obito, but then asked one of them why. Apparently ‘Kakashi-sensei’ told them to follow Obito for the best example of how to be a ‘kid’. Well, although it did help, I scolded Kakashi gently about it. Although it might be a good solution, it bothered Obito and I couldn’t allow it to continue. Kakashi finally apologised to Obito and the ROOT kids. We ended up with a picnic by the park, which became an enjoyable afternoon activity for all of us. 

Fortunately I got the child-support fee from the Council, so it didn’t affect my budget, much to my relief. I hadn’t published a book in quite a while now, so money was a bit tight. But apparently, being an advisor to the Council actually was a paid position, because I ended up receiving a handsome sum each month. 

Kushina-chan moved into my dorm room permanently. She joined our family dinner whenever she was not on a mission. Her success in making friends with Kurama was amazing, so I told her to invite Kurama for a tea talk together. It was a fun time, especially when we discussed her dream for her future and how Kurama would be her supportive brother. When Kurama appeared, I showed him Tamago-chan, of which he just huffed and cursed me for procreating too much. Yet Kushina-chan giggled when she returned, saying that Kurama was just grumpy old fox who pretended he didn’t like kid. 

Lastly, my hand was full with my baby daughter. She was my first baby that I birthed, as well the first infant I ever took care of. Her over the clock demand tired me out, but luckily I have lots of helpers. She was also a darling, cute baby who smiled at everyone. Orochimaru told me she learned to smile from me, because I tended to smile before I brought problems. True enough, Tamago-chan smiled a lot before needing feeding, diaper change or sleep. It was a fun quirk that I enjoyed very much. 

The kids loved her too, especially Kakashi. He held her as much as he could whenever he was around. Kinoe pouted a bit, but he ended up imitating Kakashi and wanting to hold her too. I only allowed it after he had enough training, and even then it needed to be under my supervision. Obito had experience with baby Shisui so he was good at helping me change her diapers or bathing. Shisui just watched Tamago-chan with his big eyes in silence, something that was uncharacteristically different for him. Kushina helped as well, blushing when I mentioned it would be a good practice for her when she has one on her own. 

  
  
  


* * *

Kakashi passed his final test and became a Genin. Since he was still too young, he was assigned a Jounin teacher without a team. Lo and behold, he was assigned to Minato. 

My pup came back home with a pout. Obito was still in the Academy while Kinoe and Shisui were having their morning training with Sakumo. Kakashi returned early from the introduction class. Apparently he ran away when he was told who his Jounin sensei was. 

“I don’t want Mi-kun!” he said to me while burying himself on my lap. “It’s not fair!” 

“Kakashi,” I chuckled. “Minato is one of the strongest Konoha Shinobi. I am sure he has a lot of things to teach you about.” 

“But! He is Mi-kun! I am his big brother!” he whined. I laughed and pinched his nose. 

Kakashi squawked while Tamago watched it with glee. My daughter, barely a year old, was already a menace and a half. She was very active and loved her brothers very much. 

“See? Tamago-chan also agrees with me.” I patted his soft fluffy silver hair. “Never stop learning, pup. And sometimes, we need to put our pride aside to do so.” 

“... but you are angry at him, Kaa-chan.” Kakashi whispered. 

I stopped smiling. “... Why do you think so, Kakashi?”

“You avoid him. You won’t talk to him if he is around and you never talk about him anymore. And Mi-kun is also afraid of you. But his fear feels more like guilt, so he must have done something that angers you, Kaa-chan.”

Kakashi was too perceptive for his own good. I continued patting him while thinking the best way out. Kakashi would benefit tremendously from Minato’s teaching. I couldn’t hinder it because of my hurt for Minato’s deception. Everything turned out fine, and I knew my script was locked for Hokage clearance level only. 

Maybe it was time for me to smooth this up. 

So I sighed and pulled Kakashi from my lap. “You… are right, pup. I avoided Minato because of … a small disagreement. But just like I teach you about how you need to settle disagreement with communication first, it’s time for me to do what I preach. Come, help me wrap Tamago-chan up. We have so much to do.” 

After we wrapped Tamago-chan nicely on my chest, I asked Kakashi to bring me to Minato. Without much preamble, Kakashi found him in one of the training grounds, looking forlorn and beating the dummy like he was venting out. 

Minato didn’t look like he dealt well with rejection, and that made me realise my rejection of him as an infiltrator into my family was hard on him too. He was just doing his job, even though it might go against what his heart wanted. 

“Namikaze-san.” I called out to him, and he froze. 

“Hatake-san.” he turned to me, watching me with Tamago on my chest and Kakashi on my right. “Good morning.” 

“Kakashi, pup, will you take care of Tamago-chan for a moment? I need to speak to your sensei.” 

Kakashi just nodded and took Tamago-chan from me. She cried and tried to crawl back to me, but Kakashi flopped onto the ground and tickled her, much to her delight. 

“Namikaze-san.” I started. “Can we have a talk?”

The man who would be the Godaime nodded. I sat seiza on the grass, and he followed my lead. Then I started. 

“I want to apologise for my shameful behaviour. I have nursed a resentment against you for your deception, even though you were just doing your job. I overlook your kind nature and focus too much on your… lie. But I won’t let this hinder my son’s education, so please accept my apology.” I bowed my head low. 

“Please stop bowing, Hatake-san.” he spluttered. “I am the one who should apologise! I did lie to you especially about your family, and I know how strongly you feel about family. My act was despicable, so it is totally fine for you to hate me for it. I.. I will ask Danzo-sama to assign him another sensei, if Kakashi-kun doesn’t want me.” 

“No, I think he will greatly benefit by learning from you, Namikaze-san. You are a genius in your own right, patient and kind. You are a fine shinobi too. Kakashi is refusing to learn from you because of my personal feeling against you. And I am fully ashamed. I preach forgiveness to my kids while nursing a grudge within myself. As such, please accept my apology, and I wish we can try to put it behind us, if you want to.” 

“Kaori-san, I am really sorry.” Minato mumbled. I was a bit surprised that he used my name. “I am ashamed of my deceit. You have been very kind to me, treating me like your own … son, accepting me as well as helping Kushina. I betrayed your trust, which is unforgivable. I know this is late and probably not trustworthy enough, coming from me, but … can I go back to being one of you?”

I blinked. 

“... I want to be a part of the Hatake family.” Minato blushed while looking down. “I want to be a part of your family again. It was warm and I never had it before in my life. I … miss all of you. Please… please tell me what I should do to make you forgive me and allow me to be accepted back?”

I started to observe him closely. The pretty man whom I learned deceit from. He looked fidgety under my scrutiny, face flushed with embarrassment… and hope? But he looked mortified as well. Maybe he really felt bad deceiving me. Could I trust him, again? 

“You know that the kids and Sakumo already thought of you as a member of the family, right?” I finally asked. “You don’t need to ask me.”

Minato just blushed even redder. 

“ I won’t tell them anything about this.” I smiled wryly. 

“... but they defer to you. And your … trust matters to me, a lot.” 

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. In the end, it was between me and my fear of being betrayed again. But then, as a mother, I needed to love my kids unconditionally. To show my kids what was right and wrong, as well as forgive them when they make mistakes to ensure they wouldn’t repeat it. Minato made a mistake. He was not a small kid, that was why his mistake weighed heavily on him, and not his age. But he looked remorseful enough. He deserved a chance to atone himself.

“I promised I would be your mother, didn’t I?” I finally smiled. “So be it. You are my wayward son. I am glad you came back to me, Minato.” 

He looked up and watched me with hopeful, glassy blue eyes. 

“May I?” I chuckled and stuck out my hand to him. He didn’t move and let me pat his hair. His face was fully flushed by now, even his ears were red. I sighed and pinched his nose. He squeaked in surprise. 

“Come to dinner tonight.” I smiled, “I will cook your favourite tonight.” 

His answering smile was blinding. 

It took some days before Kakashi agreed to be taught by Minato, but he noticed my warmer reaction to Minato and decided to allow Mi-kun to be his teacher. But I knew kakashi would bully the pretty Hokage-to-be, for sure. Kakashi made an alliance with Kushina to bully the poor blonde, which made Sakumo turn to me and wordlessly ask whether it was fine letting them do that to poor Minato. 

I sighed and kissed Tamago-chan. “Children, huh, Tamago-chan?” 

She just laughed at me and patted my cheek. 

* * *

That night, after putting sleepy Tamago-chan on the bassinet and tucked all my boys, I slipped into the bed. The weather was becoming colder, so it gave me a perfect reason to snuggle with my darling husband. 

He huffed as he continued to read the report on his hands. I pulled his arm and put it around me before cuddling closer. 

“I love you, Hubby.” I said, suddenly. I didn’t even know why I said that. “I love our family, very, very much.”

He kissed the crown of my head. The hair has grown back, but it did leave a scar and a small bald patch. I hid it with my hair in the daytime, but Sakumo weirdly liked to kiss that spot. 

“Stop kissing there.” I pouted. “I feel bad about my bald patch.”

“You are beautiful everywhere, Love.” he hummed. “And your patch is cute.” 

“... You are so weird.” 

“You just realised that?”

“... I thought you are the most handsome, smartest, manliest Shinobi in the world.” I jested. “But you… you like bald spots! I didn’t sign for this! I will leave if you keep kissing that spot.” 

It was a testament of how secure he was with our relationship that he replied lightly, “I gave you two kids, and a hundred others. You are in too deep to leave us, Kaori.” 

“... true.” I huffed and closed my eyes. “Hmph.”

He kept kissing my head, but he did avoid that spot. I smiled. 

“Nee, Sakumo. Are you… happy?”

His arm around me tightened. “...I am very happy. I won’t trade this for all the chakra in this world.” 

“I am glad.” I kissed his arm, the skin nearest to my face. “Me too, Hubby. Thank you.” 

  
  


**END**

* * *

**Bonus scene (that author cannot insert):**

  
  


Watching Kaori’s comatose body on the hospital bed, surrounded by Hatake packs. 

Danzo: “... Do you want to clone Kaori?” 

The Hatakes: “NO.” 

* * *

Sakumo watched as Orochimaru sipped his tea. 

Sakumo: “Er, you said you want to talk about something?”

Orochimaru: “Don’t you ever hurt Kaori-san. I will use your body for  _ very painful  _ research otherwise.”

Sakumo: “Uh, of course I won’t.” 

Jiraiya (suddenly slipping in) : “Hey what are you two doing? Being buddy-buddy now eh?”

Orochimaru left dragging Jiraiya by the ear. 

Sakumo: “... What was that?” 

* * *

Tsunade: “I will return to Konoha if you crossdress in public for three days.” 

Orochimaru: “... deal.” *proceeds to turn into a very beautiful woman* 

Jiraiya: “... Oh.” *proceeds to drool and have sexuality crisis*

Tsunade: “Che! I made the wrong bid, again.”

* * *

Danzo: “... checkmate.”

Hiruzen: “Arh! Again? It’s the third time!”

Danzo: “You are distracted.”

Hiruzen: “Yeah. I will have my first grandchild this coming spring. I don’t know how to handle kids.” 

Danzo: “Oh. Alright. Want to stalk Hatake kids for reference?”

Hiruzen: “Lead the way, my good man!” 

* * *

Sakumo: *read icha-icha paradise* *recognise the scene where he was on the bed and Kaori held him close* “... Damn you, Toad.” *proceeded to read more, because it was a sweet memory for him and he wanted reference to try with Kaori that night.*

Orochimaru: *read icha-icha yaoi* *recognise the crossdressing scene* “.... Die you Toad!” *flushed* *proceed to read the rest for research purposes.*

* * *

Orochimaru: walking back to the Hatake compound with groceries and new toys for Tamago-chan. 

Kabuto: *sat inside the cardboard box under the pole..* *Please adopt me written in childish letter* *sudden rain pours*

Kaori: *blinked and smiled* “Another one?” 

Orochimaru: *nodded as he put down Kabuto* *push her towards Anko and Shisui*

Kaori: “Alright! Dinner is going to be curry tonight!”

Sakumo: *arrived home and did a head count* “... is it just me, or the number of kids increases every night?”

* * *

Gai: *looking jealously at the Hatake brood from afar* 

Kaori & Kakashi: *notice Gai* 

Sakumo: *arrived home and did a head count* “... Do I need to relearn math?” “I need to buy a new table.”

* * *

Boarding House. 

Guest A: “How long have you stayed here?”

Guest B: “.... Half a year. You?”

Guest A : “8 months.” *shrugged* “Too comfy to move.” 

Guest B: “But you are Iwa spy!” 

Guest A: “And you are Kumo’s, so stop talking before anyone notices us!” 

Guest B: “... if we henge’d into a child, do you think we can join Konoha?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end!  
> 1\. OC is Kaori, but her reincarnation--does it make sense? Kaori cannot return back to her body because she was technically dead (she let go). OC still not dead, so she can choose. 
> 
> 2\. Thank you for your kind support! Without you, this won't ever reach the ending. (I am great at starting something but bad in ending them). Thank you for staying till the end. Thank you for being my friend. 
> 
> 3\. This is a personal achievement. three months, 90K words+. Wow. And as a gift to myself, I actually achieve this. Wow. 
> 
> 4\. epilogue may not come out -- basically it's : Minato's Hokage crowning with Kushina chan behind him, Shikaku as the Jounin Commander, Hyuuga Hiashi as the head of ANBU, Fugaku took over leftover ROOTs with Orochimaru and integrate it to the Konoha Police, Orochimaru had Kabuto and Anko like a mother hen, Jiraiya stalking Orochimaru from the tree. Tsunade decides she has enough drama and look the other way. Sakumo and Kaori got Kakashi, Kinoe, Obito, Shisui, Rin and Gai (latest addition), while Danzo holding Tamago chan with Sarutobi by his side. 
> 
> I don't have the will to write it out. 
> 
> Next up, the last chapter for Innovate! (and probably my last story for Naruto fandom thus far). Thank you! it has been a wild, fun journey through unemployment and crazy writing spree.

**Author's Note:**

> The day I posted this story was my birthday :) and this was a gift for myself. So please, don't rain on my parade. if you don't like it, any part of it, please push the close button and don't leave hurtful messages. I don't understand why there is so much hate. 
> 
> I welcome discussion on your Naruto kink though. I am partial to fix it, Uchiha Shisui alive, Hatake Sakumo alive. Orochimaru is a misunderstood angel (and mother hen). Also, Danzo has a heart.


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